Easier (Drarry FanFic)
by genevaaaa
Summary: It's been 8 years since the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry and Draco have both lived their lives completely expected by everyone and, they thought, themselves. They never thought a random run-in at a Muggle pub of all places would ended up becoming the wake up call for the both of them that they never knew they needed.
1. The Run-In

**Chapter 1**

It was a little late in the day for Draco to be walking around downtown London on a day like this, but he felt as if it was just… needed. Looking at all the people that were walking around him, smiling, laughing, completely blissful, he just couldn't help but think, _they truly have no idea how lucky they are_. Draco just hung his head more to avoid looking at them as the wind suddenly picked up.

_Fuck, it's cold._ He thought to himself as snow swirled around him suddenly, creating small ripple effects in front of him on the pavement. He looked up suddenly to see if there were any pubs close to him that he could dip into to avoid the blistering wind that didn't seem to want to calm down. He spotted a little hole in the wall just a few blocks away that he knew was very rarely frequented by the magical community and figured it would be a good place to slip into while the weather dredged on and he could warm up some before finally making it to his flat.

Draco picked up the pace slightly, so he could get to the pub quicker. He slipped through the doors to the little hole in the wall, suddenly feeling better with the warm atmosphere and light conversation going on in the building. Even with knowing that it was highly unlikely that he would spot anyone that knew him, he feigned a sigh of relief as no one that had turned to see who had walked in the door, was spitting curse words under their breath, or giving deathly icy glares.

He made his way up to the bar, slid into the only open stool against it, he was only stopping to warm up and didn't want to take up a table that could have been put to better use by someone else. Looking up to see where the bartender was, he spotted the gentleman next to him out of the corner of his eye. He had long dark, almost black hair pulled up into a bun, only being secured by a chopstick of some sort. The man was laughing loudly with the person next to him, neither of them noticing the sudden occupancy of the seat he had taken. Draco looked a little more closely at the gentleman, he had nothing better to do while waiting for the bartender to eventually come down his way.

The man had his back facing Draco, but from what he could see, he had lightly tanned olive skin, a rather big smile, from which Draco could see his cheeks rise every time he laughed. His shoulders were toned and muscular from what he could tell in his T-shirt and he flexed often. Draco pulled out of his thoughts towards a random stranger when he saw the bartender finally walking towards him. He was just about to order a glass of whiskey when out of the corner of his eye, the man next to him had turned. Draco could just make out the silhouette of his neighbor at the bar, noticed that what he thought was a chopstick in the man's hair, was really a wand, and his stomach dropped.

Draco stood suddenly and rushed out of the bar, leaving the bartender calling after him in complete confusion. Once outside, he leaned back against the brick wall and pulled out a cigarette. It was a filthy habit that he had picked up during the war, and he just never had a reason to quit, even when his wife, _ex-wife,_ he reminded himself, Astoria, would constantly beg him to break the habit.

"Please, Draco," He remembered Astoria saying quietly one night after he had just come back inside from one of his nightly breaks, "Stop this nonsense. I would like you to still be alive and healthy enough to watch Pius grow up. It's horrible for your health, smoking those things."

Draco smiled slightly at the memory, even though the pang in his heart reminding him that he would no longer hear her pleads to quit smoking, or see his son daily, and lit the cigarette. He took a deep inhale, feeling the drop in his stomach ease, and exhaled, watching the smoke dissipate in front of him, just like everything else really. Suddenly he heard the door to the pub open and shut, but he didn't bother to even look up, he knew that he was imagining things, that his mind was playing tricks on him again. Or at least he thought it was.

"Draco Fucking Malfoy"

* * *

"Meeting up at the Cauldron after work mate?" Ron's head had appeared through the crack in Harry's office door, smiling his usual freckled grin that he typically wore at the end of the day. Harry sighed and looked down at his desk, he still had 3 more cases that had closing paperwork that needed to be drawn up and filed. He knew that he would be here for at least half past end of business day.

"Not today Ron, I still have 3 cases to finish and I know that if I don't do them tonight, they'll never get done." He looked over at his best friend and tried his best to give an 'I'm sorry' look to him, even though Ron always saw straight through those.

"Alright, well if you finish up early, you know where to find me." Harry nodded and Ron took off.

Harry finally finished the cases and looked at his watch, it was only fifteen past but he just didn't have the drive to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Every time he went with Ron, he either had someone staring at him, or people coming up to him at the most inconvenient times, and he just didn't want to deal with that today. He decided that a walk through London would be the best thing for him, let him clear his head for the day before going to pick up Teddy from his grandmother, who always gave him an earful about what new things she's read about in the Muggle magazines, and how Harry needed to find a better job that didn't risk Teddy being without his Godfather.

Being an Auror wasn't as dangerous at it was when he first joined. The first couple of years consisted of finding any former Death Eaters that had escaped arrest and trial right after the war. The thought of the consistent field work with Ron, hunting down some of the most dangerous and lethal, made Harry smile as he walked down the sidewalk on the busy London streets. But now, now it was just picking up random one-offs. Someone broke into a store, someone was smuggling illegal potions from outside of the country, a duel had gone off in front of Muggles between two irritable Wizards who had gotten drunk and couldn't agree on the next location. It had all gotten so bland and predictable for Harry that it didn't have the draw to it like it used to.

Harry had finally looked at his surroundings after walking for what seemed like an hour when he saw a little hole in the wall Muggle pub across the street. It looked warm and inviting and the thought of being able to have a drink or two without being stared at sounded like heaven at just that moment. He walked across the street and entered the pub, no one looked up, no one jumped at the sight of him, no one bombarded him, and he smiled.

Harry sat down at the bar and ordered a Scotch, took a small sip and the tension that he hadn't realized he was holding in his shoulders, released. He sighed, leaned back in his seat and smiled again.

"Long day mate?" A voice next to Harry said gruffly, startling him. He snapped his head up, worried it was someone that knew who he was.

He looked at the man next to him apprehensively, "You could say that." Harry said slowly, waiting for the worst.

"Ya sure look it. Here, have another one on me." The man waved to the bartender to pour another one for the both of them. He held out his hand to Harry and said genuinely, "The names Eric."

Harry looked at the man and then looked at his hand outstretched towards him, Harry shook it, and cautiously said, "Harry."

"Well, nice ter meet ya Harry. Ain't never seen you in Lucky's b'fore." Harry sighed realizing that the man had no clue who he was and was just being kind to a random person at his local pub.

"Was walking by, thought it looked nice and warm, figured I'd stop in for a drink on my way home." Harry smiled slightly, letting his worry fade as he continued to talk to the gentleman. They had talked for what seemed like half an hour when he felt someone sit down next to him. Noticing that the person was just there to get a drink as well, Harry continued with his conversation with Eric and didn't think twice about Lucky's newest patron.

The person next to Harry had been waiting for a few minutes without the bartender, whose name Harry learned was Bert, serving them. Harry made eye contact with Bert and nodded behind him. Bert looked around Harry and saw them sitting there without a drink. Bert walked over and Harry had turned, about to ask for another round for himself and Eric, when the person next to him had jumped out of their seat and took off out of the bar. Bert was calling after them and Harry turned around to get a look at the person.

Harry's breath hitched as he noticed the bright platinum blonde hair of the man walking towards the door. _There's no way,_ Harry thought, _this is a MUGGLE bar. Surely…_ Harry slapped some muggle money on the bar, enough that he knew would be more than what he and Eric had drank. "Keep the change Bert." Harry said as he rushed out the door of the Pub.

Harry stopped just outside of the door, looked to his left, and realized that he was wrong. Draco Malfoy was leaned against the brick outside of the bar, taking a long drag on a cigarette, and, if Harry had to admit it to himself, looked a lot worse for wear than he thought Draco Malfoy ever would let himself look.


	2. Saint Potter

**Chapter 2**

Draco grimaced once he heard his name. He didn't want to turn to look at the man standing just to his right, he didn't want to see the smug face of "The Chosen One". He just wanted to run, run as far as his feet could take him. But he knew that with Potter already standing there next to him, looking at the state that he was currently in, probably judging him with every drag of the cigarette he held between his fingers, that the option to run was not really an option at all.

He sighed audibly and straightened up, turning to look at Potter. Suddenly Draco noticed that Potter had changed in the 8 years it had been since they last saw each other. Any time Draco's thoughts had brought up Potter in a moment of depression, or anger, hell, even sadness, this wasn't the man that came to mind. The Potter he remembered was a skinny young boy, with short, messy, almost black hair. Thin gold circular frames that somehow always seemed to end up broken, that hung low on his nose as if they didn't fit his face properly. And then, there was that unmistakable scar, just above his right eye on his forehead.

But, standing in front of him, was not the same Harry Potter that Draco had remembered. The man in front of him had long almost black hair pulled up in a bun, secured by his wand, a few stray groups of hair that probably didn't go all the way back hung gently in front and around the frame of his face. He was no longer young and skinny, in the years since they had last laid eyes on each other, Potter had aged, Draco couldn't tell whether it was from time or from everything that they had gone through during and after the war, but it was definitely noticeable. He had gone from skinny and somewhat lanky, to having a toned and muscular build. _But of course,_ Draco thought to himself, _Saint Potter had become an Auror._

He had grown a beard, more of a five o'clock shadow more than anything, but from the looks of it, if he went more than a day or two, it would be a noticeable beard. He could still see the scar above his right eye, but the lightning bolt was slowly faded in a way that if you didn't already know it was there, you would look right over it, granted the change in length of the hair probably helps hide it like it used to do when they were younger. The thin gold circular framed glasses were still there, but they seemed to either fit his face better or he had finally gotten a pair that wouldn't slide off his face.

Draco stared at Potter for another moment before the silence was broken by Potter's words. "You alright Malfoy?"

Draco shook his head slightly, trying to get back in the right headspace. "What would it matter to you Potter?" Draco spat at his former childhood enemy, "Want to try and help if I'm not?"

"Only if you needed it." Potter shrugged, he looked taken aback by Draco's words, looking as though they stung him.

_Good you prat, I hope that hurt._

"Of course, _Saint Potter,_ always trying to help and fix anything he can." Draco sneered. He didn't need help, and he sure as hell didn't need any help from Harry Fucking Potter. "Why don't you go find another pathetic soul to save. It is the only thing you're good at."

Draco pulled another cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and turned back to lean against the wall, trying to make it very clear that he would like to be left alone. He heard Potter sigh next to him and felt him move closer. Draco stiffened and kept his eyes forward, hoping Potter wouldn't come close to him.

"If you ever need to talk or anything Malfoy," He heard Potter saying, his voice slowly backing away, "Just reach out." Draco heard something move next to him, and when he turned his head after it went silent for what seemed like a reasonable amount of time to assume Potter had left, and noticed a card on edge of the window to the pub. Draco grabbed it and saw the same scratchy handwriting he remembered from his childhood. _At least some things haven't changed._ He thought to himself as he read the card.

_Harry J. Potter  
36 Carlisle Street  
London_

* * *

Harry arrived at his London flat shortly after his encounter with Malfoy. He unlocked the door and slowly walked in and stood and looked down the dark hallway. It was quiet in the home without the sounds of his godson running around. He had reached out to Andromeda to let her know that he was going to be late coming to get Teddy. He walked down the hallway and into the dimly lit kitchen and began to prepare dinner for the two of them before he went to go get him.

The green flame went down around Harry as he landed in the fireplace of Andromeda Tonks. He stepped out onto the rug and listened closely around him, a bad habit he has yet to break in the last 8 years, and suddenly out of nowhere a frenzy of blue succumbed his face and a vice like grip wrapped around his neck.

"Daddy!" Yelled a small voice in his ear. Harry pulled back the blue mess from his face and was looking directly at the vivid, now purple, eyes of his godson Teddy.

"Hiya kiddo." Harry laughed at the rambunctious 8-year-old that was now trying to struggle free from Harry's grip. Harry set Teddy down on the floor and watched him run straight down the hallway into the kitchen and within seconds back out again with his grandmother in tow. "Andromeda." Harry smiled politely, knowing that he was going to get an earful from her about being late.

"Well at least you're not dead." Andromeda said sternly. Looking Harry up and down, checking to see if he was at least injured, because that was the only acceptable reason for being so late to pick up Teddy.

"I'm really sorry Andromeda. I had run into an old schoolmate of mine on the way home who was in a bad spot and- "

"Yes, yes. And of course, you had to help them." She sighed, waving him off and shaking her head. "I can't fault you for that Harry. You've always been one to take a broken wing under your own." She turned and smiled at him as she packed up Teddys toys in his day bag.

"I really am sorry Meda." Harry looked down at his feet and shuffled, he really hated coming by late to get Teddy, it always made him feel bad.

"It's nothing Harry, it just means that I get to spend a little extra time with this fireball here." She laughed as Teddy turned his hair a vibrant flame red/orange at the sound of 'fireball'.

"Daddy?" Teddy piped up, standing right at Harry's feet now. "Can we go home now? I'm hungry."

"Of course, Ted. Let's go. Thanks again Meda." Harry waved behind him as he and Teddy disappeared into the floo.

Once home Teddy devoured his food in an unrecognizable amount of time, raced to his bedroom and dove into his toys. Harry finished his meal a short time after, walked over to Teddy's room and leaned against the doorframe. He smiled and looked in on the young boy, hair now a light bubblegum pink, eyes a deep brown, and holding a picture in his hand. Harry heard a small sniffle come from Teddy and walked into the room and sat down beside his godson. He had already known what picture he was looking at based on the color of his hair, it only turned that color when he was looking at one of Harry's old photos of Teddy's parents and 2 of Harry's favorite people.

Harry picked up Teddy and placed him gently in his lap, they boy had slunk into Harry's chest, holding the photo even tighter. "Can you tell me the story Daddy?" Teddy whispered into Harry's chest softly.

"Of course, buddy." And Harry snuggled the boy tightly and told him the story of The Wolf and The Morph, and within minutes, the boy was sound asleep in his arms.

Harry changed Teddy and tucked him bed, as he was walking out if the room, he looked back at him one more time, as he usually does to see what color his hair would take as he slept, and noticed that the bubblegum pink was still there, shining brightly against the dark of the room. Harry smiled to himself and closed the door. He walked down to sitting room, poured himself a glass of Scotch and relaxed into the couch by the fire.

He had just started on his second glass when his fire had suddenly turned green. Harry jumped and looked intensely at the fire, waiting for Ron or Hermione to come through. He was shocked when he heard a whispered voice coming through.

"Potter?" Draco Malfoy's voice rung through the room in a low whisper.

"Malfoy?" Harry replied, stunned.

"Obviously. Can I come through?"

"Sure."


	3. Quiet

**Chapter 3**

Draco stared at the card a little longer after Potter had left him in front of the pub. It was getting colder outside due to it getting later, but he pulled out another cigarette and looked at the card again. _Why would Potter give me a card with his address on it? What was he playing at? What does he want?_ These thoughts ran through Draco's head repeatedly until the cigarette had burned the edge of his fingers.

"Shit." He dropped the cigarette quickly and looked up, it had gotten dark out and Draco hadn't even noticed. He turned and walked to his flat. Once inside he looked around, the flat wasn't that big, just something to put a roof over his head since the divorce, so it never really felt like home. He turned the light on and walked to the kitchen, poured himself a little more than a finger of whiskey and leaned against the counter.

He stuffed his hand in his pocket and it brushed against the card that Potter had given him. He pulled the card out of his pocket and turned it over again between his fingers.

_Harry J. Potter  
36 Carlisle Street  
London_

_Why? What was the point of this? What did he mean by if you ever need to talk? Why would he think I would talk to him about anything? Just because he's the so-called 'Savior' doesn't mean that I need his help. _

Draco sighed. He noticed how quiet the house was without Scorpius running around, leaving toys in random places for him to find in the middle of the night. Stepping on miniature Hogwart's Express', kicking stuffed Norwegian Ridgebacks. He couldn't stand how quiet it was in here, so he walked to the living room, turned on some music and sat down in his Armchair, one of the few things he kept from the divorce. He leaned back in the chair and his mind started to wonder. He thought about how sudden the divorce was, "I'm just not in love with you Draco." He winced as he was reminded of the words Astoria had said when she had handed him the divorce papers. It was only 3 months ago but it still felt like it happened yesterday, the pain taking him over daily.

He tried to shake the memory from his mind and then his thought trickled to the day Father died. It was hard on Mother, she didn't leave her room for days after they had received word via owl that he had died while in prison, but that didn't mean that it still didn't hurt her. Draco was sad, yes, but in the back of his mind he was happy the world was rid of the man. He was always so callous, and his words were always filled with venom when he spoke to anyone but Mother. But that day, that dreadful day, it broke his heart to see Mother so distraught. He was always a look of composure, pristine and proper, but that day, that week really, she was nothing more than a shell of the woman that Draco had remembered looking up at every day with admiration. A woman who loved her son with such heart that she had lied to the Dark Lord to make sure he was alive.

Draco hung his head low in his hands, setting his glass aside, and felt a sudden heat rising from his chest. He had tried to push back the emotions for so long about all the shit that he had gone through in such a short time, but he felt as if he was finally at a breaking point that couldn't be reversed. The card was still in his hand and he looked it over once more.

_Harry J. Potter  
36 Carlisle Street  
London_

Draco stood up and walked over to the fireplace. He knew he would regret this decision as soon as he made it, but he was at a point of no return. He grabbed a handful of floo powder from the cup on the mantle, threw it into the fire, when the fire blazed a brilliant emerald green, he said the address and suddenly, Potter's face appeared before him.

* * *

Malfoy entered Harrys flat quickly and suddenly. He stepped out onto the rug in front of the fireplace looked directly at Harry. Harry, being surprised and dumbstruck, just stared at Draco.

"Well?" Draco sneered, but Harry detected a slight change in his tone though, it didn't seem as arrogant and distasteful as usual. Harry thought Malfoy seemed, put off in a sense.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry said in surprise, before he could stop himself.

"Did you not give me your address and tell me to reach out if need be?" He snapped.

"Well, yes but- "

"Well this is me reaching out." Malfoy glared at Harry, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Well I bloody well wasn't expecting you to reach out at –," Harry looked at the clock. "10 O'clock at night."

"Well fine, I'll just leave then." Malfoy turned on the spot and headed back towards the fireplace.

"Malfoy, wait." Harry hesitated as Malfoy stopped suddenly at his words. He knew he was going to regret this decision. He knew this could end up extremely bad, but, as Andromeda had said, he's always been one to take a broken wing under his own. "Why don't you come in and have a seat."

Malfoy turned around and walked over to the armchair opposite the couch. He slumped and sighed as he sat, the fire lighting his face. Harry looked over at him, taking a look at his face, and if he had thought that Malfoy looked worse for wear when he had run into him at the pub earlier, it was nothing compared to what he looked like now. Malfoy had raised his hand to his temple and gently massaged, a look of pain on his face as he did so.

Harry was struck with a moment of, well, he wasn't sure what to call it, sadness? Pain? Empathy? He really didn't know what to call it, he just knew that something in his gut had told him that whatever Malfoy was going through, he needed to help. "Drink?" Harry said lightly, still watching Malfoy as he massaged his head.

"Do you have any whiskey?" Malfoy croaked with a hoarse voice as if he was choking down something.

Harry nodded and made his way over to the kitchen and poured a glass of whiskey, he looked at the glass and then over to Malfoy and then poured a little more. He walked back into the sitting room and held the glass out to Malfoy. Malfoy glanced up, took the glass from Harry and drank half of it in one gulp. Harry sat back on the couch and looked at Malfoy once more. He noticed that the platinum blonde hair that was always so neat and tidy now looked disheveled, and it had grown out significantly that reflected what harry remembered of Lucius Malfoy. His eyes had dark circles underneath them as if he hadn't slept in days, maybe weeks. His sharp features looked gaunter than Harry believed were possible for a Malfoy and his whole demeanor just seemed… sad.

Malfoy had noticed Harry observing him and finished the remainder of his glass. "Something bothering you Potter?" Malfoy snapped, pulling Harry out of his observing thoughts.

Harry transferred his gaze to the now empty glass in Malfoy's hand and then to his own empty glass on the coffee table in front of him. "Would you like another?" Harry said quickly, standing up and taking the glasses in his hands. Malfoy simply nodded and Harry went back into the kitchen to refill the glasses. He sat back down on the couch and handed Malfoy's glass back to him. He took another large gulp to Harry's surprise. They sat in silence for what seemed like eternity when Malfoy finally stood up. Harry's gaze followed him as he moved towards the fireplace.

"The offer still open or is it a one-time thing?" Malfoy said, glancing over his shoulder at Harry. Harry just nodded and Malfoy walked into the fire as it roared a bright emerald green and was gone.


	4. Repeat

**Chapter 4**

Draco landed in the fireplace of his flat and looked around the dark and quiet living room. He walked slowly to the armchair he had in the center of the room and slumped into it, watching the now red fire blaze in front of him. He sat and thought of what had just transpired and couldn't make much sense of it. Potter had just let him into his home without question, granted some hesitation, but still, he did not turn him away. Potter was even quiet through the whole thing, save for offering for a drink and a refill, but he stayed quiet, didn't ask any questions or badger him about why he was there, in his sitting room, drinking his alcohol.

What was he getting at with this action? Since when was Potter… _nice_ to him? Draco couldn't make any sense of it but at this moment, he wasn't going to dwell on the thought of it. All he knew was that after that quiet time in the sitting room, he felt… better for some reason that he just couldn't place. His head wasn't swimming with all the horrible things that had happened to him lately, or how miserable he was with his life. He just knew that he felt somewhat better after it and wondered if he would go back. Potter did say that the invitation was open, so maybe he would go back, he didn't really know. Draco finally stood up and slumped off to bed, alone, as usual.

He woke the next morning with the sunrise, as he always did, and made his way to the kitchen. He went about his usual morning routine as if nothing had changed in his life. Coffee, toast, Prophet. He finally made his way to work feeling somewhat better than he has in a long time.

"Mornin' Malfoy." Draco looked up at the voice and saw his boss, Mr. Elowite, was cleaning a couple of potions vials as he walked in. Draco nodded and walked over to his desk.

Draco sat down and looked over the recent files that lay across his desk. There seemed to have been a recent increase in healing potions lately and Draco's stomach turned at the thought of it. "How many dragon pox remedies do we need today Elowite?" Draco said sourly, just thinking about the children in the recent breakout always bothered him.

"Looks about 30 new ones today."

"Might as well get a move on then." Draco pushed himself up out of his chair and moved over to his cauldron and started working on the dragon pox remedy. Outside of thinking about why he was making these potions, Draco always enjoyed his job. He had been working for Mr. Elowite for 5 years now as his Assistant Potions Master and it was truly one of the few joys he had left in his life, hoping to one day own his own Potions Brewery. Potions was always his easiest subject at Hogwarts and after the war and the trials, Draco had set out to get his Potions Mastery.

The day was long, and Draco really didn't notice the time flying by until Mr. Elowite had walked over to his cauldron and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco flinched at the touch, forgetting where he was in the moment. Mr. Elowite removed his hand quickly and gave an apologetic look. Draco adjusted his face as best as he could to show that it was nothing Elowite did but brushed the situation off. "That time already?" He asked quietly, this was always the worst part of the day, going home. Elowite nodded and Draco packed up his things and headed home.

Draco walked his usual route home, thinking about how many potions he had to make today, all those children that had been hit with the Dragon Pox. It just wasn't fair. Thinking abut work had suddenly put Draco in a sour mood and his thoughts had turned to everything else, and the daily downward spiral had started again. He hurried home to try and get out of this headspace he was in and relax, but once in the door, he realized that all his home was going to do was make this feeling he had worse. He went to his kitchen, grabbed a bottle of Whiskey and put in an order for Chinese takeaway. He sat down in his armchair as he waited for his food and watched the fire blaze again.

After he had finished his food, downed two glasses of whiskey, and reveled in his shit life, he looked at his side table and noticed the card. He stared at the card for a minute and finally admitted defeat.

"Fuck it." He sighed. He walked over to the fireplace and read the address on the card again and once again was staring at the face of Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry sat looking at the fire that Draco Malfoy had just walked back into and disappeared. He had no idea what had just happened, and he didn't know if it would happen again, but all he did know was that Malfoy had just spent almost 2 hours sitting in silence in his house and walked out. Harry shook his head and tried to put it to the back of his mind as he walked to bed.

Harry woke the next morning to Teddy jumping on his bed, his hair now a vibrant lime green, begging for pancakes. "Please daddy," The small boy begged. "can we please have pancake's this morning?"

Harry sighed as he rolled out of bed, the small boy bouncing behind him. He made his way to the kitchen, placed Teddy on the counter and began to make pancakes. He was absent mindedly thinking to himself as he piled the plate high, Teddy laughing wildly with every pancake that Harry added, when the thought of Malfoy in his sitting room came back to him. He still couldn't figure out what any of it meant or why Malfoy even came by his house. He was still trying to figure out why any of that happened when Teddy had pulled him out of his thoughts. He had looked up and saw Teddy with a mouthful of pancake and a fistful of another one.

Harry rolled his eyes at the child and pulled him down off the counter. He set him at the table and made himself a plate. Once finished with breakfast, Harry cleaned up and changed Teddy and himself and dropped off his godson to Andromeda's house. After what seemed like an hour of Andromeda complaining about his job, Harry finally set off to work.

"Oi mate, you never showed up at the Cauldron last night." Ron had popped into Harry's office within minutes of him arriving at work.

"Sorry, was here late remember? And then I had to go pick up Ted from Andromeda's."

"Right." Ron nodded, finally remembering what Harry had told him yesterday. "How is the little guy? Feel like I haven't seen him in ages."

"He's good. Full of energy as ever. But last night…" Harry trailed off remembering the bubblegum pink hair Teddy sported as he fell asleep.

"What happened mate?" Ron's face suddenly scrunched up and looked worried. "Is Teddy okay?"

"Yeah, yeah he's fine. It's just…" Harry sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "He fell asleep last night with pink hair. Tonk's pink hair." He looked down at his feet and felt a pang of sadness towards his godson.

"Oh…" Ron hung his head, he knew that this wasn't easy for Harry when that happened to Teddy. "Well I'm sure he'll be okay mate. You know that doesn't last long. What color was his hair when he woke up?"

Harry laughed, "It was this very bright lime green. It reminded me of Fudge's old bowler to be honest." Harry leaned back in his chair remembering the morning, Teddy's bright green hair flailing around on top of his head. "I guess you're right Ron." He smiled. "It didn't seem to carry on to this morning."

"See? He's fine, he just needs the story every now and then." Ron smiled softly to Harry. He had seen these moments with Teddy when they've stayed over at the Burrow or when Teddy came over for a playdate with Ron and Hermione's daughter, Rose.

"Yeah. But something else weird happened last night thought." The words had blurted out of Harry's mouth before he could stop himself. He didn't realize he had needed to talk about it until he was in mid-conversation. Ron raised an eyebrow in curiosity at Harry and sat down in the chair opposite him. Harry just decided to go ahead and delve into last nights oddities with Malfoy showing up out of nowhere. Ron listened intently and didn't interrupt like he normally would in a situation like this.

When Harry finished Ron just looked at him with the same curiosity he had started with, finally, he gave a big sigh and put his hands on his knees. "Well mate, I don't know what to tell you about that one." He shook his head at Harry and looked as if he was giving it a bit more thought. "Ya' know, you mind if I run this past 'Mione and see what she has to say about it?"

"Sure."

"Alright." Ron slapped his knees and pushed himself up out of the chair. "You gonna come by the pub tonight this time?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Right, well I'll see you tonight then. Gotta run back to my office, close out some cases before the week ends."

"See ya'."

Harry looked down at the new list of cases on his desk, no doubt put there by Kingsley early this morning. He sighed and dove into his paperwork. It had only been about 2 hours since he had started in on the cases when he heard a knock at his door. He waved his wand behind his head to open the door. He had turned to see who had come in when he noticed a head of bushy brown hair poking in through the door frame.

"'Sup 'Mione?" Harry said leisurely as he turned back to his paperwork.

"Ron just told me what happened. Are you okay?" She said in a hurried voice.

"Yeah, Ted was okay when he got up this morning."

Hermione shook her head as if Harry wasn't understanding, a look he was all too familiar with. "No Harry," She huffed as she sat down, "I mean with the whole Malfoy thing." He turned to her and saw the worry placed across her face.

"I'm fine Hermione. Honest." Her facial expression calmed, but not by much. "I'm serious Hermione! Nothing went down, he didn't try to hex or jinx me. He just… sat."

Hermione's brow furrowed slightly as she tried to comprehend what Harry was saying. "If you say so Harry, just, be careful. Please?" Her voice had a note of pleading in it.

"Yes Hermione. I promise." She nodded curtly and quickly turned out of the room.

Harry shook his head, smiling slightly at Hermione and her need to constantly mother him. He dove back into his work and before he knew it, it was time to leave. He packed up his cases into his filing cabinet and headed out to meet Ron at the Cauldron.

After a couple of drinks, Harry headed to go pick up Teddy and deal with Andromeda's incessant badgering. He went through his usual nighttime routine with Teddy, minus the story this time, and finally sat down on the couch in the sitting room. At 10 O'clock on the dot again, his fireplace roared a bright emerald green again and Malfoy's face was looking back at him again.

They went through the same scenario as they had the night before, Malfoy sitting in the armchair, Harry offering him Whiskey, though he just brought the whole bottle back with him this time, neither one saying a word, and ending with Malfoy walking back into the fire.


	5. Draco

**Chapter 5**

Draco sat back down in the armchair in the center of his living room. He raised his wand and a bottle of whiskey and a tumbler gracefully landed beside him on the small table. He poured himself another glass, even though he had drunk nearly half of the bottle that Potter had left beside him, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes as he took a sip of the amber liquid. His mind played the evening over again. Potter looked surprised to see him there.

_Of course, he did, he didn't expect you to come back you dolt. _Draco shook his head, thinking. Potter just nodded when the look of surprise faded, went and grabbed the whiskey and just left the bottle for Draco. Again, he didn't ask questions, he didn't sit and stare at Draco this time, he just let the room sit in silence. As if he _knew_ that was what was needed.

Draco rubbed his temple, moving from the thoughts and had started remembering a day that he hadn't thought of in quite some time.

"Draco, the baby's coming!" Astoria shouted from the bedroom. Draco raced up the stairs to her as fast as he could, he held her hand, his mind racing as to what was supposed to happen next. Draco had never felt this feeling of uneasy before, and he wasn't keen on it. Finally, he remembered he needed to take Astoria to St. Mungo's. He called her bags to the room and held on to his wife tightly. They landed right in front of St. Mungo's Hospital and quickly rushed to the front desk. The witch that sat behind the desk and looked up, her eyes opened wide at the sight in front of her. The witch hurried them to the labor ward and called a healer as soon as she could.

The next hour was as anxiety riddled and stressful as Draco could have imagined it. His mother had arrived shortly after an owl was sent to her from the hospital. Draco and Astoria made sure to have the list of authorized visitors and family members at the hospital well in advance just for this moment. They were of course to be prepared for anything. Nothing was to take them by surprise. They had Astoria's hospital bag packed for weeks prior to today, Draco had secured the top labor and resting suite at the hospital months ago, but still, nothing had prepared them for today.

Draco went to go sit with his mother after being at the hospital for an hour, Astoria's labor was taking longer than either of them had predicted. He looked up from the floor as he entered the guest waiting room to the suite and saw his mother, eyes wide with worry, her hands running over themselves in nervousness. He had never seen his mother this way in his life. Narcissa was always a look of calm for as long as he could remember. Even at his father's trial, she had a look of calm about her that, to be honest, unnerved Draco. The only other time he had not seen his mother calm, was their own trial, but this was not the look she carried that day.

When Draco entered the waiting room, Narcissa looked up at him, her eyes going seemingly wider than Draco thought they could go. "Is anything –," She tried to choke out.

"Nothing's wrong mother, it's just taking longer than expected." He smiled a small smile at his mother to try and calm her some. He noticed a sigh from her and saw that the tenseness she held and subdued a great deal. "Thank you for coming." He whispered as he took one of her hands from the other and leaned his head against her shoulder.

"I wouldn't miss this day for anything my darling boy." She smiled down at him, squeezing his hand as she said it.

"Draco!" They heard a voice yell down the hall. They both raised their heads at the voice and saw Pansy rushing into the room. She looked out of breath as though she had been running, yet her presence would say different. She still looked the epitome of calm and pristine. She walked over to him in a hurry and pulled him into a large hug. "What's going on?"

"Astoria's resting, it seems to be taking longer than –," Draco was caught off by a healer walking into the room, silently nodding to him. "I'll be back." He kissed both the women on the cheeks and hurried back to his wife.

The next thing he knew he was staring into deep dark brown eyes, eyes that made his heart stop, eyes that filled his whole body and soul with the feeling of being complete. He stared at this little human in his arms, the little bit of hair on his head was strikingly blonde like his own, but he could see the ends start to curl. He smiled as the little one in his arms looked back at him with intense curiosity and smiled. He smiled at him. At Draco. At that moment Draco knew that there was nothing in this world that he wouldn't do to protect this small, fragile, perfect child. He was lost in adoration of his son when Astoria's voice broke the quiet.

"What do you want to name him Draco?" She said softly, smiling at the image in front of her.

"Scorpius." He said instantly. He knew it was odd that he had picked out his child's name before he had any children but he had read the name in one of his favorite stories and from that moment he knew that he would name his first son that. He looked back down at his son, watching him look around the room, back at Draco, over to Astoria and Draco couldn't take his eyes off him. Draco heart was full for the first time in his life and basked in that moment for as long as he could.

As the memory of Scorpius' birth ended, Draco suddenly felt sad again. He hadn't seen his son in almost 2 weeks, and it killed him. The only person on this earth that loved him more than his own mother did, and he had been kept away. He was only 4 years old and Draco feared this separation from him would be traumatizing to the child. He didn't want to do anything to hurt Scorpius and prayed that Astoria was making sure that he knew how much Draco loved him. And then Draco's thoughts traveled to his day of work, and all the children in the outbreak of dragon pox and his heart dropped. He didn't know if Scorpius was okay, if he had caught the infection. But he assumed if something like that had happened that Astoria would at least let him know. He _was_ his father after all. Draco downed his glass and stomped off to bed. Angry about how going over to Potter's house and sitting in silence and drinking his whiskey calmed his mind. Angry about all the children being affected with sickness. Angry that he hadn't seen his son in weeks no matter how much he asked Astoria. He was just, angry.

Draco woke the next morning, still angry, and went to work. He went through his day numbly and out of his head, anything to make sure that he wouldn't mess up the potions that he was making. He didn't want something he did, some mistake he made, affect the sick children. He ended his day after making another 25 remedies and walked out the door of the brewery without saying a word. He walked home without looking at anything but the ground. When he walked into his home, he went straight to the kitchen and pulled out the whiskey and drank. He didn't pour a glass; he just went straight from the bottle. He didn't care about how classless it looked, no one was there to judge him on the situation. He just needed a drink. He sat down in the armchair once more, eating leftovers from the day before. He sat and watched the fire and waited. When the clock struck 10, he threw the floo powder into the fire, said Potter's address, this time without even looking at the card, and waited. Potter's face showed up again, this time without surprise on his face and he just nodded. Draco walked in, noticed the bottle of whiskey and a tumbler already sitting on the table, and sat down in the armchair next to the couch that Potter was already occupying. He poured himself a glass, took a big gulp, and sighed deeply. He felt calm.


	6. Harry

**Chapter 6**

Harry couldn't make any sense of what was going on in his life. Malfoy had been in his sitting room two nights in a row now. Malfoy never says anything, never looks at Harry besides the initial look through the floo to make sure he can enter, and he leaves without a word. What was his world coming to? Malfoy, of all people was just waltzing into his home, drinking his alcohol, and walking out. But Harry had noticed something had changed with Malfoy the second night of him stopping over. Malfoy seemed to have more stress written on his face, but he didn't seem to look as in pain as he had the night before. Harry still didn't understand what was going on but maybe, just maybe, it would either stop and he could just forget about it, or it would continue, and he could eventually ask Malfoy what was going on. That is, if Malfoy even knew what was going on himself.

He shook off the thoughts once more and finally headed for bed. He didn't need to think about these oddities tonight. He finally slipped into bed after a relaxing and thought removing shower and fell peacefully to sleep.

He woke the next morning to a crash in the kitchen and jumped up out of the bed. He grabbed his wand and rushed out of the room. When he ran into the kitchen, he was greeted by a flour covered, purple haired Teddy, beaming up at him, batter covered whisk in hand.

"I wanted to make pancakes again Daddy." The boy smiled, turning back into the kitchen and showing Harry the giant mess of flour, eggs, milk and bowls everywhere. "I watched you yesterday and I wanted to make some again, but you were sleeping so good I didn't want to wake you up today." Teddy turned away from Harry as he was saying this. He walked determinedly back to his bowl of batter on the counter which had a chair pressed up against it. Teddy climbed up in the chair and took one of the many measuring cups that had been sprawled out across the counter and scooped out some batter and put it into a pan. Harry watched as the boy kept his eyes on the pan, watching the bubbles form on the uncooked side of the pancake, and when he thought it was ready, he took the spatula that sat next to him and very carefully flipped the pancake. Teddy watched closely again for a few moments and then turned the pancake over once more to check the other side, and after deciding that it was good enough, he put it on the plate he had next to the batter, put some syrup on top, placed a fork in the center, and walked over to Harry, who was still standing in the entrance of the kitchen, surprise still on his face as he watched his godson in front of him with amazement. Harry took the plate, took a bite of the pancake, and smiled at his godson, who was watching him with expectant eyes.

"These are amazing Teds. I had no idea you were such a good cook." Harry said, mouth half-full of another bite of pancake, because they really were, amazing.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Teddy beamed. He hugged Harry around the legs and went back to his chair.

"Next time though buddy, please make sure you wake me up, even if you want to be the one cooking. I really don't want you to fall or burn yourself, okay?"

"Okay Daddy. I promise."

Harry smiled and walked into the kitchen to help Teddy finish making the rest of the pancakes and added a couple of pieces of bacon to the breakfast making fiasco that was playing out in front of him. They ate every bite in front of them and finally got cleaned up. Harry dropped Teddy off at his grandmothers and went to work.

The day was just like any other, closing out cases, chatting with Ron though lunch and meeting up with Hermione before he went back to work after.

"Did he show up again?" Hermione looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah." Harry suddenly looked down at his feet, not understanding why he felt weird about the whole thing.

"And?" Hermione pressed.

"And nothing Hermione. He just sat there and drank whiskey in silence and then left. Just like last night." Harry shrugged.

"Weird."

"Mmhm."

"Well, if it keeps happening maybe you should try and talk to him about it."

"Honestly Hermione, I don't think talking is going to work."

"Well maybe you should reach out to someone who might know the best way to handle this."

"And who better than you 'Mione? You're the smartest person I know." He turned to look at her as they finally reached his office door.

"Well," Hermione blushed at the words. "I appreciate that Harry, but I wasn't talking about me, because, yes, I may be smart, but I'm not the _wisest_ person you know, am I?" She raised an eyebrow at this.

"True, you did marry and have a child with Ron, and honestly, how wise of a decision is that really?" He nudged her playfully as she swatted his arm.

"Ignoring that ridiculous statement aside, I'm talking about McGonagall." She stopped and looked at Harry intently.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Completely."

Harry thought about this and finally nodded, realizing that Hermione was right, if this kept happening, he should talk to McGonagall. Maybe she could figure out what was going on. Hermione gave a curt nod and headed off after looking at Harry once more. Harry finally went into his office and finished his work for the day. After picking up Teddy and going through the nighttime routine and putting Teddy to bed he sat back on the couch, bottles of whiskey and scotch on the table, accompanied by two tumblers, which Harry had already poured his scotch into his own and laid his head back.

His mind had gone back to right after the war, when everyone had wanted an interview, or a picture or an autograph and Harry had to do everything he could to avoid the public. He had ended up confining himself to either his house, Ron and Hermione's or the Burrow. He had sold 12 Grimauld place during that time, he no longer wanted that constant reminder of his godfather and the Order. He broke up with Ginny because he felt as though he would hold her back in her life, wanted to play for the Harpies and make a name for herself outside of him and her family. She didn't seem to fight much on it due to the fact that when they talked about it, they both realized that the only thing that they had in common anymore was the war, and it became to depressing for either of them. He finally was able to get his own place and hide out there after a while, thanks to Ron and Hermione doing the searching for him and handling most of the transaction due to the public frenzy that happened every time he walked out of the house.

Granted as the days had gotten easier to get out of the house and being able to go and do small errands such as shopping for food didn't seem as if he was going to be mobbed, he started to finally feel the effects of the war on him. All the loss in his life had started to finally hit him, the faces of his loved ones crossing his mind daily, at random times, during random events. But when he went to sleep, that's when the worst of it happened. The dreams had started out of nowhere, small ones at first, flashes of his childhood at the Dursley's, the random mishaps at Hogwarts, the banters with Malfoy and Snape. But then the dreams got worse, full scenes of the war would play out in his mind, reminding him of everything that happened in intricate detail. His mind kept playing the deaths of his fellow students in front of him, and he could hear everything, all their screams, their tears, saw their eyes as life escaped him. He woke up in a pool of his own sweat on a constant nightly basis.

The dreams never stopped no matter what he did. He had tried dreamless sleep potions, and all those did was distort the dreams in a way that made them worse than they were before. He had bought a pensieve and tried to move those memories out of his head, but all that did was turn those dreams into ghosts, turning the dreams into a haunting image of the original, making him cold and terrified to wake up. Nothing he had done worked until one day he was greeted by Andromeda Tonks at his front door.

"Harry dear." She sounded exhausted as Harry welcomed her into his home. "I'm sorry for barging in on your home unexpected."

"It's, uh," Harry looked at his feet and run his fingers through his messy hair. He hadn't tried to even take care of it that morning. "It's fine Andromeda. Tea?"

Andromeda nodded and followed Harry to the kitchen as he put the kettle on. "Harry, I need to talk to you about Teddy." She said softly and looked at Harry with cautious eyes.

Harry spun around and looked at her, noticing her expression and feared the worst. His stomach dropped. He couldn't lose Teddy too; he was all that he had left outside of his friends. "Is he okay?" He said hesitantly, fearing the worst.

"Oh," Andromeda tried to change her expression as soon as she noticed Harry's worried face. "Yes Harry, he's perfectly fine. It's just -," She sighed and looked down at the teacup that now sit between her hands. "It's just that Ted and I, well, we're a bit up there in our age and -."

Harry's stomach released the knots that it was currently in and sat down slowly and gave Andromeda an encouraging look to let her know to keep going.

"Well, Harry, what I'm trying to say is, is there any way that you would be able to keep Teddy? It's not that we don't want him in the house, it's just that he requires a lot more energy and attention that we can provide him. And we'd be happy to watch him while you're at work and we can take turns on the weekends that way Ted and I can still see him, if it's no trouble to you that is." She had spoken so quickly that it took Harry a minute to gather everything that she had said, and once he did, he felt as if his heart was going to burst.

"Yes." Harry said quickly, beaming as brightly as he could to Andromeda.

"Yes?"

"Yes, I would love to keep Teddy." Harry nodded with enthusiasm to the woman who sat opposite him. He couldn't believe it. He would be able to have Teddy here, in his home, all the time. Harry stared at her in disbelief, trying to wrap his head around the thought of it, and he knew that there was nothing better in his life that could happen in that moment.

Harry smiled and looked back at Teddy's door, remembering the day that he was brought home and he couldn't have imagined a better moment in his life. The dreams had subsided significantly, and the bad days didn't seem so bad since Teddy arrived. Harry was so grateful for his godson. He looked down at his tumbler and noticed it was empty. He leaned to grab the bottle of scotch and refill it when the fire turned green and he saw Malfoy. He looked at the clock, it said 10 O'clock. Harry nodded and Malfoy walked in, sat down, and poured a glass of whiskey.


	7. Lunch

**Chapter 7**

The nightly routine of Malfoy coming into Harry's sitting room had continued for the rest of the week and on Saturday morning, Harry sent an owl to his old professor, Minerva McGonagall, asking if he could come by the school and speak with her, that he needed to get her view on what was going on and in all honesty, he just wanted to see the school again, and her. He received her reply within the hour and she had told him that her door was always open for him and that if he had the time, to come by that same day, her floo would be open for the rest of the day if needed. Harry smiled at the parchment in his hand, sent an owl to Andromeda to let her know that he would be out of the house for the afternoon and if she needed to get in touch with him he would be at the school with McGonagall, and took off through the floo to Hogwarts.

He stood in the fireplace for a moment, taking in the office that once belonged to Professor Dumbledore, now belonging to Professor McGonagall, and a wave of calm had washed over him. He looked up when he heard the sound of scratching from across the room, he saw Professor McGonagall sitting there at the large desk head down and pouring over whatever she was writing, completely invested to the point that Harry had thought she didn't notice him come in.

Harry was about to say something to let her know he was there when he heard her say, without lifting her head from her parchment, "Well, come sit down Potter." Harry smiled and remembered it was McGonagall, there wasn't a thing she missed. He walked across the room and sat down in one of the chairs opposite her.

"Hello Professor." Harry said, still smiling.

"Professor? Why Potter, I thought with it being what, 8 years since you last attended Hogwarts that you would have called me something other than Professor." She looked up from her parchment and noticed the look of confusion from Harry. She smiled and nodded and said, "If it makes you more comfortable, you can simply call me McGonagall, seeing as you calling me Minerva might make us both a little uncomfortable." Harry noticeably relaxed and smiled at her. "Have a biscut Potter." She put a hand out to the small brass tin that sat on the corner of her desk and Harry obliged. "So, what have you come to talk about?"

"Well, McGonagall," Harry laughed slightly as the words sounded odd when he said them out loud to her. "It's just that, well, I've had an old classmate that's been coming by my home nightly. But what's odd about it, is that they come by at the same time every night, they don't say a word, they have a couple of drinks, and then they leave. It's happened every night for the past week and I'm not really sure what to make of it."

"Mr. Malfoy I presume?" McGonagall said calmly, looking at Harry over her square framed glasses.

"How did you -?" Harry looked at her with complete surprise. He knew nothing ever got past McGonagall, but how could she have figured this out so quickly?

"Potter, out of all of your former classmates, which of them do you think would have had the worst of it after the war? Mr. Malfoy. Which of them do you think would come for help but not actually ask for it? Mr. Malfoy. And lastly, out of all your former classmates, who do you think would be hesitant to ask for your help and also stay away from the public eye?"

"Malfoy." The realization finally hit Harry like a ton of bricks. "But why would he come to me for help?"

"Potter, out of all of my former students, there are few that I can think of that would be willing to help out anyone that needed it, even those that they may not have gotten along with in the past. You, my boy, are at the top of the list of students that I would think of that would do as such." She smiled genuinely to Harry and he felt his heart fill with pride at her words.

"Thank you McGonagall. That means a lot, especially coming from you." He hung his head as he smiled, slightly embarrassed. "But Malfoy? I mean, we hate each other."

"Do you?" She raised an eyebrow at him at the question.

"Well, yes."

"If you do, as you say, hate each other, then why do you let him into your home? Why did you that first day?" Her question was soft and a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. "And also Potter, why would he have come to you in the first place? I assume you had run into him at some point and that is how he initially knew how to find you, and you being who you are, offered a helping hand or an ear. Would you have really offered if you truly hated him?"

Harry listened to McGonagall and understood what she meant about it all, but he still didn't understand why. And then the thought clicked in his head. "Prof-, uhm, McGonagall, are you saying that, Malfoy is trying to ask for help without actually asking for help?"

McGonagall paused for a moment to take in Harry's question for a moment, then she finally looked at him and said, "Why yes, I believe he is Potter. But the thing is, I don't think he himself knows that he is asking for help. We both know how Mr. Malfoy is Potter and we both know he is not one to ask for help, no matter how bad things may get for him."

"Well then how am I supposed to help someone who wants help, but won't ask for help, and doesn't even know he needs or wants it?" Harry leaned back in his chair frustrated.

"I'm sure you can figure it out Potter. You seem to have a knack for answering your own questions that seem to have no answer at all." She smiled again and looked at him kindly over her glasses.

Harry shrugged and finally stood up, claiming defeat. "Thank you McGonagall." She stood with him and pulled him into a small hug to his surprise. He hugged her back, not realizing how much she had always meant to him as a parental figure until that moment.

"Don't forget to bring young Teddy with you next time you visit?" She asked, still smiling. "I do love seeing that boy, even though I know how much of a handful I will have on my hand in a few short years."

"Of course." Harry nodded, and turned and left in the floo. When he arrived at home, he went to the kitchen and made a cup of tea. He heard the flames of the fireplace roar and looked over to notice that they were emerald green. He wondered if Hermione or Ron had decided to stop by to visit, or maybe Neville or Luna. He peered over the kitchen counter to look at the fireplace and to disbelief, he saw Malfoy looking out from it.

Harry walked over to the sitting room and stared back at the blonde man looking back at him, he wasn't sure what was happening but he nodded anyway. Malfoy walked through the fire and into the sitting room. He looked around and then his eyes landed on Harry, cold and grey as Harry had always remembered them being, but there was something different about them, they looked, pained.

"No whiskey?" He asked Harry softly.

"It's one in the afternoon Malfoy." Harry stared back at him, unsure as to what would happen next. "Would you like some tea though?" He offered, raising his own cup up in front of him. Malfoy shrugged and Harry walked back into the kitchen and poured another cup. "How do you take it?"

"Just milk." He heard a small response from the kitchen, and then heard the sound of the man sitting down in his usual spot of the armchair next to the couch.

Harry walked back into the sitting room and handed the cup to Malfoy. They sat in silence for a moment before words were finally spoken, and to Harry's surprise, it was Malfoy.

"I'm sorry." It was barely a whisper, but Harry was confident he heard it.

"For?" He put his cup on the table and leaned with his hands clasped in front of him, elbows on his knees.

"Barging into your home." Malfoy set his cup down next to Harry's and looked over at him, the pain in his eyes seeming to be worse than before.

"Malfoy, in case you've forgotten, I _did_ invite you." He laughed softly to himself as he said this, still trying to figure out why he did in the first place.

"I don't know why."

"You know, I'm not really sure either." Harry said after a brief moment of silence. Malfoy looked up at him when he said this. "McGonagall said that it's because I would help out anyone who seemed as if they needed it, even if they didn't say that they did." He smiled at this, knowing it was true.

"You are Saint Potter." Harry could have sworn he saw a small twitch at the corners of the mans mouth as he said this.

"I'm not a Saint, Malfoy. I just like to help people." Harry sighed, looking down at his feet. "I guess it's more of the fact that everyone I know has been through so much shit, I want them to know that they aren't alone in it. That they have someone to talk to about it all. I just, I went through so much shit, so much fucking shit, and didn't have anyone who I could talk to, or who would listen, for the longest time, that I knew I never wanted anyone to feel that way. Especially after the war. Even now, even though it's been almost a decade since. Some people opened up about it immediately after, before I was even sure I could talk about it. And in all honesty, I never really have opened up, I've never fully gotten how I felt out there, never told anyone what I saw in my dreams, never told anyone about how I felt during and after everything. But if I could help someone get through it all, then it would be okay." Harry looked up, not knowing the response he was going to get from the man sitting across from him. He didn't expect it all to come out like that, it just did. But there was no way or point in taking it all back now. So he just, waited.

Finally, Malfoy spoke, quietly, and looking at his hands, which were thin and looked as though he was starved. "You'd even be willing," he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "be willing to help me?" He looked up at Harry, there was a pleading look in his eyes that Harry had only seen once before, up in the Astronomy tower the night Dumbledore died. Harry winced at the memory but kept a straight face as the man continued to look at him.

"Yes, Malfoy, I'd be willing to help you. If you want." Harry didn't know what drove him to say this. What could be so wrong with Malfoy? What was so bad that he would ask him for help? Harry couldn't place the reason why, but he could feel in his soul that this was something that he needed to do for the man.

"Thank you." Malfoy nodded and picked up his tea again.

"Can I ask you a question though?" Harry said with a bite of concern in his voice that made Malfoy's brow furrow. He nodded anyway and Harry continued. "Why 10 O'clock at night?"

Malfoy seemed to be thinking this over, and then he looked up at Harry and finally said, "It was a time that I figured you would be in." He looked over Harry's face, which showed more curiosity before, "That first night, it was 10, so when I came by the second night at the same time, and you were home yet again, I figured that would be an appropriate time to come by. Knowing you were home and just sitting in here, and all."

"Then why not come at the same time today? Did you just know that I would be home in the middle of a Saturday?"

"To be honest, something had really hit me today and my instant reaction was to try and see if you'd be here. I just got lucky to be honest."

Harry nodded at this and looked at Malfoy once more. "Well, now that this has been settled," He stood at this, Malfoy's eyes following him as he did, "Hungry? I'm starving." And he proceeded to the kitchen.

"I really should be going Potter." Malfoy said to him across the room, standing from the armchair.

"Don't be daft Malfoy, you can't just come into my house every night for a week, and then in the middle of a Saturday and then not accept an offer of food. Come on, you're eating lunch here, now come and sit in the dining room. I don't like yelling across my home."

Malfoy shrugged and made his way into the dining room as Harry made lunch. He handed a plate to Malfoy and they ate in silence before Malfoy thanked him and headed towards the fireplace. He stopped suddenly before he reached the fireplace and turned to face Harry. "Do you mind if I come by tomorrow?" The look on his face was somewhat hopeful as he said it.

"Just as long as it's before 5. I have," Harry paused, he didn't need to tell Malfoy about Teddy. "I have somewhere I need to be by then." Malfoy nodded and headed through the green flames.


	8. You Haven't Changed

**Chapter 8**

It was the lightest Draco's chest had felt in months when he walked back into his home from the fireplace. He looked around his home and noticed that it didn't even look as dark and dreary as it had before. He smiled to himself before the realization of why he felt this way had finally hit him. Harry Potter. The one person who used to make his stomach twist in anger. The reason his words used to be filled with venom in his childhood. The one person that shouldn't make him feel better about anything had made him feel better about, well, fuck, everything really.

And did Potter just open up somewhat to him as well? He had rambled on a bit about the fact that he had never really told anyone how he had felt, and that no one had ever listened to him. But didn't he have the weasel and the mudblood for that? Surely, they would listen to whatever the leader of their beloved Golden Trio had to say and of course they would have compassion for him and make sure he felt better about himself more than he probably already did. Savior of the wizarding world and all that shit.

Draco shrugged it off and just assumed it was Potter's tactic to making someone feel comfortable with how they are feeling in that moment so that they don't feel embarrassed to talk to him about things. He ignored his thoughts and finally ordered some takeaway and sat in his armchair, finally able to relax for once in his life. His thoughts were drifting to some of his fonder memories of his life when he was disturbed by the sound of scratching at his window. He looked up and saw a familiar barn owl perched just outside, _Astoria. _He jumped up out of the chair, rushed to the window and let the owl inside. He pulled the rolled-up parchment from its leg and watched it turn and fly away. He opened the parchment and his heart sank at the words.

_Draco,  
I'm sorry to have to inform you of this so late, but Scorpius and I are going on holiday in two days and will be gone for two weeks. I will let you know when we are back so you can come by and see him._

_Much,  
Astoria_

Draco read the note three times over to make sure that he was reading everything correctly. He was, and with every word he read, his heart sank even more. The happy, comfortable feeling that he had previously felt coming home had disappeared. He sank back into his chair, waited for the takeaway and drank himself into a slumber. He was just done with the day at this point and didn't see a reason to do anything else.

When Draco woke the next morning with the sunlight, he had a pounding headache that reminded him of last night and the letter from Astoria. His heart sunk once more and looked around the room. He had fallen asleep in his armchair, the letter still clutched in his hand. He crumpled up the parchment into the fire that had reduced itself into embers in his sleep. Finally standing, he begrudgingly walked to the loo just down the hall and stopped to look at the vacant room just across from it. There were child's toys that had started to collect dust on the floor, a bed that waited expectantly for an occupant. Draco closed the door as his stomach turned in pain from the thought that the room had never been occupied, the toys never used, the bed never slept in, that his son had not come to visit him since he had occupied this flat three months ago. He turned his head away and entered the loo.

He pulled a hangover potion from the shelf beside the sink, drank it reluctantly as he looked at himself in the mirror, something he hadn't done in what seemed like months. His face had thinned significantly, making his features more predominant than they naturally were. His eyes seemed sunken in and his hair was no longer slicked back and shiny as it was throughout his whole life. He hadn't realized how long it had gotten, it almost resembled his fathers, aside from the severe unkemptness it showed. He hadn't noticed that he hadn't shaven in weeks either, his blonde hair growing scruffy and unruly from his jaw and around his mouth. He scoffed at his appearance and walked out of the room and headed straight for the fireplace and made his way to Potter's home. Hoping that what he had said the day prior, was true and he would be allowed to come by again.

When Draco entered the sitting room, he looked up and noticed that no one was in there. He was worried that he had come by at a bad time or that Potter wasn't even home, or worse, he wasn't actually invited and had made the whole thing up in his head. He went to turn and leave when he heard a clatter from the room off to the right of him. He looked up and noticed Potter in the kitchen, he seemed deep in thought as he was cooking something and Draco didn't want to disturb him, he would just come back another time. He went to turn back to the fireplace again when he heard Potter speaking from the kitchen.

"Malfoy?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in. I'll be leaving." He hung his head, not turning to look at the man.

"No, wait. I was just making breakfast. Would you like some?" Draco turned and saw Potter staring at him, holding a pan up in front of him.

"It's fine. I'll go."

"No, seriously. I may not have been expecting you this early, but I've got plenty of food here and the only person I know that can eat all of this by themselves is Ron." He saw the man laugh slightly as he said this.

"If you're sure." Draco shrugged walked towards the dining room. Potter walked over and set a plate full of food in front of him. He looked down in amazement at the pile of eggs, toast, bacon, potatoes and a glass of orange juice in front of him. He looked up at Potter to tell him thank you and noticed the man hadn't even waited for him to say anything and saw him digging into his own plate. Draco watched him for a moment and noticed that he was a very uncivilized eater, shoveling food into his mouth as if it were his last meal, or only meal. He scrunched up his face at this when Potter looked up from his food finally.

"Something wrong Malfoy?" He had eggs clinging to his beard, but he didn't seem to notice, or care, much to Draco's disbelief.

"Just that you eat like a barbarian Potter." Draco said, looking somewhat disgusted at the sight in front of him.

"I'm sorry Malfoy, not everyone grew up all proper and shit like you." He huffed and set down his fork, a hint of disdain in his voice. "But if it's so unappealing, you can leave if you'd like. I won't be offended to throw your food away." Draco noticed a bit of hurt this time coming from the man across from him. Or was it discomfort? Draco couldn't really tell.

He mumbled that he was sorry and began to eat the food in front of him. It was delicious, the eggs warm and fluffy, the toast buttered lightly, bacon crisp and hot, and the potatoes seasoned well and soft. He ate every bite on his plate and looked back up at Potter who had finished eating his food and was now reading a book across the table.

"You read?" Draco said, sounding more astonished than he probably should have.

"Yes, Malfoy. I read. Why does that surprise you?" He put the book down on the table and got up to gather the dishes to return them to the kitchen.

"I just assumed Granger did all of the reading and you and the weasel copied from her." Draco shrugged.

"If that were the case Malfoy, I'm sure I would have gotten better marks than I did, but no, I did not." Potter had his back turned to Draco, but he could still see the tenseness in his shoulders from the conversation. He finally turned around and faced Draco. "Besides, if I would have just copied off of Hermione, she would have killed me instantly." He looked at his feet and laughed quietly. "And also," His snapped up quickly, his eyes had changed to daggers at Draco. "It's Ron, or Weasley. If you're going to be in my home, you will be mindful of that. Got it?"

Draco closed his eyes and pinched the top of his nose between his eyes and sighed. "I suppose."

"Good, now we can get on with our day."

"You're not going to kick me out?" Draco's eyes opened quickly at the words.

"I'm not sure why, but no, I'm not." Potter shrugged and made his way to the sitting room.

Draco nodded and followed Potter, sitting in the armchair he had become so familiar with in the past week. They sat for a minute before Draco finally spoke. "You haven't changed Potter."

"Neither have you." Potters words still had a hint of irritation in them but had calmed.


	9. Sunday

**Chapter 9**

Draco and Harry sat in silence for almost an hour before Harry finally got tired of the quiet and spoke up.

"So, how's your mum?" Harry asked, realizing it was probably a stupid question but didn't really know what else to say to break the silence.

"My mum?" Draco turned to look at Harry, confusion playing across his sharp features. Harry nodded to him and Draco simply shrugged. "She's good, I guess. I haven't spoken to her in quite some time to be honest."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Harry said honestly.

"It's fine. With everything that's happened, I honestly expected something like this." Draco sighed at this. He had missed his mother terribly throughout the entire time he was dealing with his own issues, but he knew that she needed her space after father had died, and he was making sure that she got that. The last time he had spoken to Narcissa, was when Astoria had filed for divorce and he didn't think her heart could take that as it was.

"Everything that's happened?" Harry picked his head up and looked over at Draco questioningly.

"I don't want to talk about it Potter." Draco spat; he really didn't want to talk about his problems with Potter. "Change the subject." He turned to Harry and his eyes were like daggers towards the man.

"Fine." Harry said, leaning back on the couch and holding his hands up in surrender.

"What's with you Potter? What are you playing at?" Draco was standing now, looking down on Harry with an accusatory look in his eyes.

Harry looked back at him with confusion on his face, he honestly had no idea what he was getting at and honestly didn't want to get into an all-out war in the middle of his sitting room. "I was just trying to talk Malfoy, don't be so sensitive about the shit." Harry realized he was now standing up as well, facing Draco with the same intensity.

"Just trying to talk? Are you fucking kidding me Potter? Since when do you just want to talk to me?" Draco's voice was getting louder with each word he spoke.

"I'm trying to be _nice_ Malfoy." He took a step closer to Draco, feeling his blood rising. "Maybe if you weren't such a fucking prat, maybe it would happen more often, and it wouldn't be so foreign to you."

"_I'm _the prat?" Draco could feel his anger rising with each syllable he spoke, he didn't know where it came from, or why it happened, but he couldn't stop it now. "Says the savior of the fucking wizarding world, if only they knew who Harry fucking Potter really was, maybe they wouldn't fawn over you as if you were a damn god."

"What are you getting on about?" Harry shook his head in disbelief. They had started this, and Harry saw no end to it. "What do you mean by, if they knew who I really was? You act as if _you_ do?"

"I DO!" Draco was screaming now, and he didn't think he could control his anger anymore. "You're the fucking prat that turned down a handshake of an eleven-year-old boy who just wanted to be friends. The arsehole that decided that making a classmate's life a living fucking hell for 6 years was a good fucking idea. You let Granger PUNCH ME IN THE FACE! YOU TRIED TO FUCKING **KILL** ME!" Draco was breathing heavy now. He hadn't realized how much anger from their childhood he had kept inside him all these years.

"You're -," Harry stopped suddenly. He hadn't realized that Draco had held on to their childhood problems. Harry had forgotten about most of them by now, all aside from their sixth year. "You're bringing up childhood shit, NOW? If you haven't forgotten, which it seems you obviously have, I turned down your handshake at eleven because you were degrading the only friend I had made in my life at that time. I let Hermione punch you because you tormented HER. YOU called her a mudblood, YOU tried to get an innocent animal killed and then reveled in it. And as of sixth year," Harry's voice had calmed at this point, because this was the one moment in school that he truly regretted his whole life. "I never meant to try and kill you. I didn't even know what that spell did." He hung his head at the final words he spoke.

"YOU USED A SPELL ON ME THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW? ARE YOU DAFT POTTER? HOW FUCKING STUPID WERE YOU?" Draco was fuming at this point. He looked at Harry closely and noticed the hurt on his face from this one moment. He stared at him for a moment and finally took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"I'm sorry." Harry whispered, his voice catching in his throat. He didn't know how much he had wanted to say that to Draco until now. He had always regretted that decision and now it was thrown into his face. "I'm so sorry Malfoy. I was scared, we all were."

"Scared?" Draco's voice was filled with venom at this point. "You were scared?" He laughed loudly, making Harry look up at him, his face wide with surprise at his laughter. "I had fucking Voldemort breathing down my neck for Salazar's sake. I was terrified he would kill my parents. Can you imagine that feeling Potter? Can you?"

Harry's face twisted in pain at Draco's words. "Actually, I can Malfoy." He sat down with defeat at this point. "He actually killed my parents, remember?" He looked down at his feet, his hands twisting each other in his lap.

Draco snapped his mouth shut in shock. He looked down at Harry and saw the pain in his face, how his whole demeanor changed, making him look defeated. He slumped back into the armchair and hung his head. "Fuck." He whispered. "Merlin, Potter, I'm sorry. I was out of line on that one." He shook his head in disbelief of himself.

"'S alright." Draco looked up at Harry, and he noticed something he doesn't think he's ever seen from Harry. He was crying.

"Potter?" Draco was looking intensely at Harry, unsure of what to do.

"I'm fine Malfoy. Don't worry about it. It happens from time to time. 'S long as Ted's not here." Harry's head snapped up at the realization of what he had said.

"Ted?" Draco looked at him curiously. He didn't think Harry was into blokes before. "Is that why you said I had to be gone by 5? Your boyfriend coming home Potter?" Draco felt his cheeks flush, a bit embarrassed now, he knew he was intruding on Harry's life, but he didn't realize how much.

"Nah, not a boyfriend. Haven't had one of them in a long time." He looked up at Draco, who now had an eyebrow raised, obviously questioning this whole conversation now. "Well, I might as well tell you now, seeing as I've already let the crupe out of the bag." Harry stood up and walked into the hall, Draco was worried he might come back with something to hurt him. When Harry walked back in the room, Harry was carrying a photograph in his hands. Draco could see the occupants moving from the distance, but he couldn't tell who they were this far away. Harry handed Draco the photo and he looked at it closely, and he saw Harry, must've been not too long ago with how long his hair was in the picture, but there was a boy in the picture with him. The boy had vibrant purple hair that stuck up in multiple directions, and his eyes, Draco had to do a double take to make sure he was seeing them correctly. The boy's eyes were a bright, almost bone chilling silver. Draco looked up at Harry in shock. He raised an eyebrow at Harry to explain. "He's my son." Draco's shock changed to surprise, his eyes wide and taking in Harry's face, which was now showing a look of unconditional love. "My godson actually, Teddy." He took the photo from Draco's hand, beaming at it.

"Teddy… Lupin?" He had remembered his mother telling him that her sister, Andromeda, had a grandchild at the beginning of the war, his cousin, Nymphadora Tonks had married and had a child with his old professor, Remus Lupin. "He's, my cousin, right?" Draco's voice was small now, a lump in his throat had formed from looking at the picture of Harry with Teddy, making him think of his own child, Scorpius.

Harry nodded and finally looked up at Draco. "Yes, Teddy Lupin. And yes, he's your second cousin. And you'd be surprised to know," Harry paused and sighed heavily. "He actually knows who you are."

Draco winced at Harry's words, fearing the worst. "What does he know?"

"He hasn't been told much, just that your mum and his grandmother are sisters. He's seen some of your pictures from your school days. Apparently, your mum had sent a few photos to 'Meda a few years back when she was trying to make amends and wanted Teddy to know more of who his family were."

Draco's face softened some, and he looked back at the picture. "What's he like?"

"He's amazing. He's got the best of both of his parents, Tonks' metamorphmagus abilities and Remus' love of chocolate and big heart." Harry couldn't stop smiling while he was talking and Draco noticed this, and he found himself smiling along with him. "He's honestly the only reason I've kept going these past eight years."

Draco's eyes widened with Harry's words. Harry noticed this and felt compelled to elaborate. "It may seem hard to believe but before Teddy was put into my care, I was at a really low point. The war was over to the rest of the world, but to me, it never stopped." His voice faltered slightly while saying this. "Godric, I don't even know why I'm telling you this." Harry put his head into his hands and sighed deeply.

"It hasn't ended for me either, Potter." Draco was looking at the man across from him with tired eyes. He didn't know that Potter had felt this way. He had seen Potter in the Prophet, he knew everyone reveled him as their Savior, he knew they all told him that this was the best things had been in a long time thanks to him.

Harry looked up at Draco and noticed his expression matched Harry's emotions. "What's your favorite memory from school?" He asked, he just needed to get his mind off everything, but he wanted to talk to Draco, but not about the war, he wanted to get to know him.

"What?"

"Your favorite memory from school, what is it?"

"Well, I guess the first time we played quidditch against each other." Draco thought back to second year, he smiled at the competitiveness between the two and never noticed how free he felt during those moments.

Harry smiled at this, "Ya know, those were some great times."

"Did you ever finish training for the ballet, Potter?" Draco smiled a little at his own joke. He looked up and saw a small smile pulling at Harry's mouth as well.

"Actually," Harry's smile got bigger, and Draco could see a twist of something forming behind his eyes. "No." And Harry suddenly burst out laughing.

Harry's laugh became so infectious that Draco started laughing too. They both laughed so hard they ended up keeling over, holding their stomachs, faces both bright red. When they both sat up and looked at each other, their smiles faltered some, but they remained on their faces.

"I don't think I remember the last time I laughed that hard."

"I don't remember the last time I laughed." Draco's smile finally fell.

Harry watched the mans face and his smile had followed. "Whenever you do feel like you want to talk about it, I'm here. You know that right?"

Draco looked up at him and nodded. He wasn't sure if he could open up about it, especially not to Harry, but knowing that there was someone in the world that would listen, and, Draco felt, wouldn't judge him, made him feel better about it. "You mind if I stop by again tomorrow?" His voice sounded hopeful, much to his surprise.

"Come by around 6." Harry said suddenly, surprising them both.

"But what about -?"

"I think he needs to get to know his cousin. Even if I never fully did." Harry smiled at him and held out his hand. Draco took it cautiously, still always worried this whole thing was a trick. "And who knows, maybe we can talk more about how obnoxiously big prats we were back then." Harry smiled at Draco and he could tell that it was a genuine one.

"I'd like that." Draco smiled back. He finally stood up from the armchair and headed towards the fireplace.

"And Malfoy?" Harry called after him. Draco turned around on the spot. "Please shave. I'd like Teddy to see what the Draco Malfoy I grew up with looked like. He doesn't need to think that half-ass grown beards are something to be proud of. I'd rather him think beards like mine are something to aspire to." Draco almost went off when he noticed Harry had a huge grin on his face, trying his hardest to hide his laughter, and Draco smiled.

"Piss off, Potter." And he was gone.


	10. The Interrogation

**Chapter 10**

Draco stood in the mirror, staring at his appearance. Potter was right, he needed to shave, Malfoy's were not the type to have facial hair without looking like they were trying to overthrow the government. He looked down at his watched and noticed that it was only 4:30, but he knew he had to make sure that he looked somewhat presentable, he didn't want Teddy to think he was always so unkempt. He hopped in the shower and made sure to take time cleaning his hair and face. He stood in the hot shower and let the hot water run down his back, releasing all the tension in his shoulders, something he noticed that was going on for quite some time now.

When he stepped out, he performed a shaving charm to clear the hair from his face, applied the facial creams and potions that he had on the shelf that he hadn't used in so long he almost forgot that they were there. He pulled half of his long hair up, in an effort to make it look more presentable and looked himself over once more. He figured he looked well enough and made his way to his closet. He looked over all of the clothes that he hadn't worn in months, seeing as he had only wore his work robes on a daily basis and never left the house anymore, _besides to go to Potter's home_, so he hadn't really needed to wear them anymore. After deciding that most of the wardrobe in his closet was far too fancy to wear to meet a child, he decided on a simple white button-down shirt, with a pair of navy-blue trousers and loafers. He looked himself over in the full-length mirror and scoffed, thinking that his younger self would be appalled at the man standing in the mirror. He didn't have a proper waistcoat, or cufflinks, or a tie, he just looked, simple. But he didn't have the energy or effort to put into any of that and figured Potter would take the piss out of him if he met Teddy that way.

He looked back at his watch and noticed that only 45 minutes had passed and didn't know what to do with the time remaining. He knew he shouldn't have a glass of whiskey because that wouldn't be right to meet an eight-year-old somewhat sloshed and decided that he would go down to Diagon Alley and find something for the boy as a peace offering of some sort.

He walked down the cobble stone road and ended up at a small toy shop a few blocks past Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He looked around the shelves and nothing had stood out to him that seemed proper to give the boy, the toys were either to simple for a child of his age or just seemed downright boring. He walked around for a few more minutes when out of the corner of his eye he spotted the perfect toy. He took it straight to the counter and smiled proudly at his decision as the woman behind the counter accepted his money and he walked out of the store.

Draco arrived exactly at 6. He cleared his throat to announce his arrival, hoping he hadn't messed up the time that Potter had given him the previous day. He noticed the man coming around the corner from the kitchen, _he always seemed to be in the kitchen,_ and heading to greet him in the sitting room. Draco noticed that the man was wearing a simple long sleeve t-shirt and jeans, _muggle clothes,_ and was walking around in just his socks. He felt completely overdressed at this moment and hated the fact that he made such a fuss over his appearance.

"You made it." Harry said with a smile, but the tone in his voice hinted surprise, seeing as he partially didn't expect Malfoy to show up.

"You did say 6, right?" Draco said questioningly, noticing the surprise in Potter's voice.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be honest, I didn't know if you'd show." Harry shrugged, running hands through his hair.

"Well I'm here." Draco huffed. "But I can leave if you'd like Potter." He started to turn when he heard a small voice from down the hall.

"Daddy!" Yelled the small voice and Harry's head snapped in the direction of the voice.

"I'm in here kiddo! Come here for a second, I'd like you to meet someone." He nodded to Malfoy and gestured for him to come into the room.

Draco stepped away from the fireplace and waited hesitantly. He started to worry that Teddy wouldn't like him, that this was a horrible idea. Why would the boy care to meet him? Why did he even think this would be okay? He was frozen in fear and didn't have the opportunity to run like he had thought to do, for a young boy, with, Draco realized after close examination, deep navy blue hair that went in different directions, not unlike Potter's when they were in school. The boy jumped into Potter's arms and Potter picked him up and spun him around in a circle above his head, raising his shirt slightly above his jeans and Draco could have sworn he saw something colorful on the mans abdomen before he put the boy back down, and they were both looking at him. Draco straightened up at the sight of them and smiled as best as he could at Teddy.

"Teddy," Harry said softly to Teddy, noticing the curious look on the boy's face. "This is your cousin, Mal-, ahem, Draco Malfoy."

Teddy turned to face Harry and then looked back at Draco, squinting his eyes at the man. Draco felt uncomfortable at this but held his composure. _A child isn't going to make a Malfoy feel unnerved._ Teddy looked once more at Harry and the man gave him a slight nod as the boy's eyes widened with realization. He turned and walked over to Draco and once he was right in front of him, he looked up with curiousness.

Draco looked up at Potter with a worried look but was reassured with a nod from Potter and finally bent down to meet Teddy's gaze.

Teddy finally spoke when Draco was face to face with him. "You're the boy from the pictures Aunt Cissy brought over, aren't you?" Teddy leaned his head to the side, as if he was analyzing Draco.

Draco almost laughed at his mother being called Aunt Cissy, but he held his composure for the sake of the child. "Yes, yes I am. And you must be Teddy." Draco smiled at him, realizing the boy was only looking at him the way he was to make sure his memory was serving him well.

"Yes, but I get called many things. My Gran calls me Edward when I'm in trouble, daddy calls me Ted, kiddo, buddy, and a buncha other stuff." He was twisting his fingers in his hands as he looked up and moved from side to side as if he was trying to think of all the names in his head. "But you can call me Teddy or Ted. I really don't like Edward. And only daddy calls me kiddo and buddy." He looked back at Draco and smiled brightly.

Draco laughed and said, "I think I'll go with Teddy; it seems to fit you."

Teddy nodded and his face scrunched up with curiosity back at Draco. "Whatcha got behind your back?" He pointed around Draco, noticing his arm bent behind him.

"Oh this?" Draco said playfully, pulling the toy he got just before he arrived from behind his back. He had made sure to wrap it before he got to Potter's house. "Oh, it's nothing. Just something I got earlier just in case I ran into a kid today." He smiled at he boy and looked up at Potter who had an eyebrow raised and a smirk playing on his face.

Teddy stared at the toy with wide eyes and said with an excited tone, "I'm a kid!"

"Are you sure?" Draco's tone playful.

"I am, aren't I daddy?" Teddy turned to Harry with expectant eyes.

"I'm not sure bud, I think that's something he's going to have to decide seeing as he bought it." Harry smiled at Teddy and looked at Malfoy, who was still smiling, something that made Harry's chest swell with something like pride, but he couldn't exactly place what it was.

Teddy turned back to Draco with pleading eyes. Draco eventually gave in with an exasperated sigh. "I guess you are a kid. But you must know something about this toy. It's a very special toy, so it needs to have a lot of love and care okay?" Teddy nodded quickly and Draco handed him the toy. Teddy ran over to the couch and Draco followed him and sat down in the armchair he was so familiar with. Teddy carefully unwrapped the toy and stared in amazement once he had pulled it from its wrappings.

Harry had sat down next to Teddy and looked over at the toy. He looked up at Malfoy in amazement of the toy when he noticed it was a stuffed wolf that was charmed to change colors every couple of seconds. "Daddy…" Teddy whispered. Harry looked down at the boy, who hadn't taken his eyes off the stuffed wolf, "It's just like me."

Draco watched the boy with a pang in his heart as his mind thought of Scorpius when he had brought home different toys for him. He looked up at Potter and noticed the man was looking back at him, a look of gratefulness playing on his face. Potter had mouthed, _thank you_, to him, and he nodded in return. Teddy looked back up at him with tears slipping from his eyes, his mouth open, words unable to form from the boy. Draco watched him as he jumped off the couch, holding the wolf tightly in his arms, and ran over to Draco and jumped into his lap and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you." Teddy whispered into his shoulder.

Draco hugged him back and whispered, "Of course." He smiled brightly again and looked back over at Potter who was watching the scene in front of him play out as if it was a play that was extremely bizarre.

Teddy finally climbed down from Malfoy's lap and turned to look at Harry. He hugged the wolf tightly and looked at Harry intently and said, "When's dinner?"

Harry laughed and got up from the couch and picked up Teddy, "It's ready now if you would like to eat?" Teddy nodded hastily and looked down at the wolf then back up at Harry with questioning eyes, "Yes you can bring the wolf to dinner as long as you don't get food on it." Teddy smiled and then looked over at Malfoy and then back to Harry with the same questioning look. "Would you like Malfoy to stay for dinner?" Teddy nodded again. "Well, if he would like to stay for dinner, then he is more than welcome to." Harry looked over at Malfoy who simply nodded and raised from the armchair.

The three of them sat down to dinner and it was quiet as they all ate, until Teddy finally spoke up, looking at Draco he asked, "Why does Daddy call you Malfoy?"

"Well, I guess it's because when we went to school together, that's what we did, we called each other by our last names."

"But daddy went to school with Uncle Ron and Aunt 'Mione and he doesn't call them by _their_ last names." Teddy said matter-of-factly, continuing to eat as he pointed this out.

Draco looked up at Potter for help but all he got was a shrug from the man across the table and he sighed as he looked back at the very curious Teddy next to him. "Well, your father and I weren't very good friends back in school, so we didn't call each other by our first names." Draco said, hoping this would appease the child.

"But you're friends, now right?" Teddy said, looking between the two of them.

Draco and Potter looked at each other at the same time now, unsure of what to tell Teddy. _Were he and Potter friends? If not, were they working towards a friendship? _Draco didn't exactly know where he and Potter stood outside of former school rivals. But he looked back at Teddy and shrugged, "Sure." And he looked back up at Potter, who seemed to be trying to hold in a laugh at the interrogation he was receiving from Potter's godson.

"Well then why don't you call each other by your first names now? It just seems weird hearing you call each other by your last names." Teddy shrugged and stuffed a fork full of food into his mouth.

The two men looked at each other, unsure of this revelation made by an eight-year-old. "I mean, I'm okay with it, if you are _Draco._" Harry said, realizing saying Mal-, Draco's name didn't seem as awful as he thought it would.

Hearing his name coming from Potter sounded odd but, in a way, that Draco could get used to, so he shrugged and accepted defeat. "If you say so _Harry._" The smiled slightly at each other and turned their attention back to Teddy who was smiling fondly at the two of them.

"That's better." He laughed at them. "So, you're my cousin?" He looked at Draco, his questioning look back on his face. Draco nodded at him and he continued. "But, you're old." He scrunched up his face in confusion. Harry couldn't hold his laughter in this time and Draco shot him a look, making him stop suddenly, but it was obvious he was just holding the laughter in this time. "You're old like daddy." Teddy said, breaking Draco's glare from Harry, making him laugh this time, looking over and seeing the man across from him now being the one glaring at him. "I'mma call you Uncle Draco, is that okay?" Teddy asked, but before Draco could even open his mouth to respond, Teddy spoke again. "It's okay." He nodded smartly and then smiled, making Draco realize he wasn't even asking Draco, he was just stating a fact.

"I think that sounds great Teddy." Draco smiled down at Teddy who hugged his stuffed wolf tightly.

"Okay, I'm going to go play with Moony now." Teddy said, hopping off his chair.

"Moony?" Both Harry and Draco asked Teddy in unison.

"Yes. Like my other daddy." He said matter-of-factly. He turned away from the two of them and headed to his room.


	11. Apologies

**Chapter 11**

Draco looked at Harry as Teddy walked out of the room and they both sat in silence for a moment before Harry stood up and headed towards the sitting room. He looked back at Draco when he was halfway to the room, "Would you like to come sit?" Draco nodded and followed the man and sat down in the armchair as Harry sat down on the couch.

The silence remained as they sat in the sitting room until Draco finally spoke up. "He's a very smart child." He looked at Harry and smiled, a bit of adoration in his eyes for the boy.

"Yes, he's a lot smarter than I ever was at that age." Harry responded with a smile as well and laughed lightly, turning to look back to where Teddy had just stood.

"Hogwarts is going to have a handful when he finally gets there."

Harry laughed louder at this and leaned back on the couch. "I feel bad for McGonagall." He shook his head at the realization. "I mean, she's going to be in so much trouble with him, he's as smart as his father was and just as much of a rebel as his mother was."

"Not to mention that he's been raised by you, _Harry_." Draco laughed as he said this and noticed Harry's eyebrow raise at his words.

"What's that supposed to mean _Draco_?" Harry's voice sounded somewhat defensive, but Draco noticed the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"It means that, despite the fact that you and the other two of the Golden Trio always seemed to save the school at the end of the year, you always had a habit of turning it upside down for at least half of the year." Draco started laughing at this point. "I mean, do you even _remember_ what happened our first year? There was a bloody _troll_ in the school and you and Weasley just so happened to knock the damn thing unconscious. What were the two of you _doing_ in the girls' lavatory to begin with?"

Harry was laughing now with Draco and had to gasp for air as he remembered that night, it was so long ago but for some reason, he could recount the whole event as if it had happened yesterday. "Well, if you must know, Ron had hurt Hermione's feelings earlier that day and she was in the lavatory crying according to one of our friends. So naturally, when we were all running back to our dormitories we had to turn back to go and get her because she had no clue what was going on."

"Wait, Weasley hurt Granger's feelings? I didn't even know he was capable of doing that to her. Aren't they like, the perfect couple or something?" Draco was looking at Harry in disbelief.

"Believe it or not, when we first met Hermione, the two of them didn't like each other and she was a bit annoying." Harry shrugged after he said this, and he raised his wand. "Tea?" He looked at Draco, eyebrow raised questioningly. Draco nodded and noticed a teapot and cups were floating over to the two of them.

"Granger, annoying, _no._" Draco put his hand to his chest in feign disbelief of Harry's words.

"Shut it." Harry smiled. "But yes, she was rather annoying when you didn't understand her reasoning behind it. But back to the story, Ron had made fun of her earlier that day, granted he had no idea that she was right behind us when he said it, but she had heard him and that's how she ended up in the girls' lavatory, and how, in the end, so did we."

"Okay, that I can understand, you always did have the need to help people even when we were eleven. I mean, it made no sense, but you still did it. But what I never could figure out, is how the hell you and Weasley had knocked it out?" Draco leaned in and grabbed the cup of tea that Harry had set in front of him, but he never took his eyes off the man, intent on finding out the end to this story.

"Well to be honest, if it hadn't been for Hermione, we probably would have been dead."

"Shocker."

"I know, she was typically the reason Ron and I had survived every year. I don't think either of us would be alive today without her being our friend throughout school. But when we had entered the lavatory, the troll was making a right mess of it, smashing everything it could to try and get Hermione, it was terrible. We had tried to distract it to keep it away from her and knowing Ron and I, we didn't think that through all the way because it had come for us at that point." He shot a glance at Draco who was back to laughing, holding his stomach and face turning red. "So, I had jumped on the back of this thing, which was, of course, a stupid idea, and somehow my wand got stuck up his nose." Draco almost fell over at this point in the story, he was laughing so hard.

"Troll boogers? You have to be joking at this point, right?" Draco could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard now.

Harry simply nodded, smiling at the man laughing across from him. "Well Ron was at a loss for words at that point because the troll had grabbed me by the leg and had tried to beat me with the club that he was holding. Thankfully Hermione reminded him of the levitation charm that Flitwick had shown that same day and he was able to perform the spell and lift his club in the air. When he dropped the spell, the club hit the troll on the head and knocked him out. And now here we are."

Draco had finally calmed down from laughing and was still looking at Harry. "I had no idea you almost _died_ then. I mean, of course the whole school knew about the Quirrell thing, but the troll thing we only heard rumors. I didn't believe most of them, but still, there were some pretty crazy stories that had wondered around after Halloween."

"I heard a lot of them, I thought some of them were pretty great to be honest. I think my favorite one that I had heard was that Ron and I had bribed him with sweets that we stored in our robes and then hit him in the head with a broken toilet." Harry laughed as he remembered hearing the story cross through the halls back in his first year.

"That was a good one. I actually think I know who started that one too."

"Who?"

"Yours truly." Draco leaned back in the armchair and threw his arms out in satisfaction.

"You didn't?"

"I did. I never told anyone that I had started it because, to be honest, I don't think anyone would have believed that I, of all people, said something nice about you, but I honestly did. I had said it behind a bookshelf in the library where I saw a group of Hufflepuffs sitting and they went from there." Draco smiled proudly at the memory.

"I would have never guessed. Especially with our history." Harry's eyes were wide with surprise at the news of the story. "I mean, we clearly weren't very fond of each other back then were we?"

"No, no we weren't. And to think, it all started because a young boy got his feelings hurt by a person that he barely even knew." Draco hung his head at his own words, all traces of the happiness that he had previously felt now faded from existence.

"You mean when you insulted Ron on the train to school?" Harry could hear the defensiveness in his voice but the memory of his first official meeting with Draco hit him in the chest with an unknown anger that he hadn't felt in years.

Draco simply nodded. "I did that to myself, all I wanted back then was to be your friend, and I was immensely jealous that you had already made friends at that time, and I had been raised in such a way that I was prejudice towards other wizarding families and other magical bloodlines that it kicked me in the arse." He lowered his head to look at the cup in his hand, which was now empty. "I'm so sorry." He whispered so low that he thought Harry couldn't hear him, but to his surprise, he was wrong.

"Don't be sorry for being told the wrong thing your whole childhood. I don't blame you for Lucius Malfoy's actions, and I don't blame you for the way you perceived the world. It's been obvious since sixth year that your mindset and impressions on the world had changed, and that's when I first forgave you. Maybe not completely, but enough to make sure that you didn't die in front of me when I had a chance to save you."

"I wish you wouldn't have though." Draco spoke softly now. He couldn't look at Harry now, but he knew the expression those emerald eyes would have. He knew that Harry would have pity in his eyes, and Draco didn't want to see that. He didn't want Harry to pity him.

"There has only been one person on this earth that deserved to die, and we both know who that is." Harry had a sense of ferocity in his voice now that made Draco look up now, and he didn't see pity in Harry's eyes, he saw rage. "And you know what's insane Draco, I tried to _save him._ I am that stupid and ignorant that I tried to save him." Harry scoffed and sat back on the couch, looking over at Draco, the rage still in his eyes, but, Draco noticed, that were at himself, not at Draco.

"You try to save everyone Harry. It's just who you are. I just wish you hadn't saved me. But then again, I'm getting what I deserve now instead." Draco noticed Harry's expression change and he couldn't hold back. "I mean, after the war of course I got shit. Even after the trial where you stood for Mother and I. But I expected that. I thought that would be the last of it and eventually people would get over it or realize that some people don't remain the same person. And most people did, my boss forgets most days what I've done or who I was associated with and it makes me happy." A small smile tugged at Draco's mouth for a second but faded as he continued. "But now, it's not people remembering who or what I was, it's life that's deciding that I don't deserve a second chance. My father passed, but I honestly don't fucking care about that prat, but it's been hard on mother. She seems as if she's withering away most days and it breaks my fucking heart and I can't take it most days when she lets me see her. My _ex-wife_ has decided that it's okay to just take my son wherever she damn well pleases and just ignore that he has a father that wants to see him and spend time with him, and I'm just so damn pissed about it. Everything good in my life has been ripped away from me in less than six months, and I had just started feeling okay with my life." Draco took a deep breath and felt the heat in his face grow and spread and didn't dare look at Harry. He just felt a hand on his shoulder and that was all it took.

He felt hot, wet tears streaming down his face and he didn't know how to stop them. He felt the hand remain on his shoulder as the tears came faster and harder and his breathing began to labor and hitch in his chest. He couldn't understand why he was crying, and he hated the fact that it was happening in front of Harry Fucking Potter but at this moment, he couldn't change what was going on, so he just let it continue. He felt as if he was crying forever when the tears finally began to cease, either that or he just physically couldn't produce tears anymore, either way, he was glad it was stopping. He looked up and saw that Harry had moved on the couch and was sitting closer to him, hand still on his shoulder and a look of concern on his face, but sympathy playing in his eyes. He went to tear his gaze away from Harry when he heard a movement behind Harry and he looked up to see Teddy standing there, holding his stuffed wolf that Draco had gotten him, staring at Draco with intense sadness in his eyes. The boy ran over to him so quickly that he couldn't stop him even if he had tried to.

Teddy jumped in Draco's lap and Harry had moved to remove him, but Draco looked up and just shook his head at Harry, letting him know that it was okay, he could stay where he was. Harry nodded and moved back to where he was sitting. Draco looked down at Teddy and the boy returned his gaze. He didn't say a word, he just moved his stuffed wolf into Draco's hands.

"No Teddy, he's yours."

"But he can help, I promise." Teddy pushed the wolf further towards Draco, obviously not taking no for an answer.

Draco sighed and grabbed the wolf. "Thank you, Teddy." He pulled the wolf close to him to appease Teddy, but he noticed that something was different about the wolf when he held it close.

"Is he helping?" Teddy said hopefully.

"I… I think he is." Draco looked up at Harry who was eyeing Teddy curiously. He looked up to Draco and noticed the curiosity that was playing on his face as well.

"Teddy," Harry said softly, "What did you do to Moony?"

"I didn't do anything to him! I promise Daddy." Teddy spun around to Harry and looked at him intently. "I was playing with him in my room, and I was showing him a picture of Mom and Dad and my heart hurt again when I was telling him the story you tell me, and then out of nowhere he started to get warm, but not so warm that it hurt, but I hugged him and…" Teddy trailed off, looking at the floor.

"What happened Teddy?" Harry was now down on the floor next to Teddy, hand on his shoulder gently, worry in his eyes.

"He warmed your heart, didn't he Teddy?" Draco finally spoke, realizing what he was feeling when he held the wolf close. He watched as Teddy spun around and looked at him with bright eyes.

"Yes! I didn't know if that was happening to you too, but I hoped it would. I didn't want you to be sad anymore Uncle Draco, so I thought Moony could help you like he helped me when I got sad about Mom and Dad."

Harry stared at the two of them, confusion on his face now. "What is he talking about Draco?"

"The wolf, Harry, I'm not sure what kind of magic it is, I surely didn't know that it did this when I bought it, but when the person holding him is sad, he gets warms, and, well, he warms your heart." Draco looked at Harry in disbelief, but he was the one holding the wolf and experiencing it for himself.

"I don't believe it." Harry shook his head as he said this.

"I don't either Harry, but I'm holding him and experiencing it myself, and that's what it is."

Harry sat back down on the couch and smiled at Draco and Teddy. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to believe you." He shrugged. "So, what's next then?"

Teddy turned to Harry slowly, the biggest smile Draco thought he had ever seen spread across the child's face. "Cake!"

Harry hung his head and laughed under his breath and turned to Draco, who obviously looked confused. "We eat cake when we're sad in this house."

"Will you help us make a cake Uncle Draco?" Teddy had jumped back in Draco's lap now.

Draco had tried to say no, that he needed to leave, that he didn't know how, but Teddy was giving him 'sad eyes', according to Harry, and didn't take no for an answer. Draco eventually gave in and let Teddy pull him into the kitchen, bouncing the whole way.


	12. Food Fight

**Chapter 12**

Draco had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he agreed to make a cake with Harry and Teddy. He half expected to stand on the side as Harry and Teddy did all the work. He had no idea how to make a cake. And to be honest, he had no idea how to make _anything _really. But, as Draco was slowly starting to realize, things in the Potter household didn't exactly go as one may expect.

Draco had entered the kitchen with Teddy pulling him and Harry following them both. When Teddy let go of him, he went to grab a small step ladder from next to the fridge. He placed it next to the counter and climbed up. Draco watched as Teddy started pulling bowls and spoons and measuring cups out of the cupboard. He felt movement next to him and turned to see Harry had moved to lean on the counter beside him. Draco looked up at his face and saw the look on Harry's face as he watched Teddy pulling things onto the counter left and right. There was a look in his eyes that Draco couldn't quite place. He had seen it before, but only once, when Granger had punched him in the face in their third year.

Draco could never forget that day, because he had respected Granger after that moment. He smiled at the memory and realized the look on Harry's face was _pride_. Draco looked back at the man once more and while noticing the pride in his face, he saw something completely different in his eyes. It was a look Draco had only seen from his mother, a look that she only reserved for him, never shown to anyone else, not even his father. It was _love_. What he was seeing in Harry as he watched his godson was a look of complete pride and love for the boy. He noticed as he was staring at Harry that he had never, in all their years of knowing each other, seen the man next to him with such happiness. This thought struck him to his core and the pang of sadness in his stomach overwhelmed him. He sat in this pain for only a moment when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and noticed Harry looking at him with concern across his face.

"You okay Draco?" Harry asked kindly.

"Um, yeah. Just had a moment. Nothing to worry about Harry." Draco feigned his best smile and turned to look at Teddy, ignoring the questionable look on Harry's face. "So, why aren't you using magic? Aren't you worried that he's going to make a huge mess?"

Harry laughed and nodded. "That's the point Draco." He looked over at the blonde and saw the shocked expression on his face. "I let him do this the muggle way, make the biggest mess. It helps" Harry shrugged as Draco's expression remained the same.

"I don't understand." Draco said slowly. "You're a wizard, and yet you make cakes the muggle way because making a mess, _helps_ somehow?"

"Believe it or not, yeah." Harry smiled. "When you let go and just have fun with it all, get flour and sugar all over the place, and yourself, you forget why you were sad or upset in the first place." His smile softened as he said this, and he turned to look at Teddy, who was now pulling ingredients from the fridge and pantry. "It also helps that Ted here gets so into it, that you can't help but be happy. Hence why we bake when we're sad in this house."

At that, Teddy turned around and glared at the two men in front of him. "Are you two gonna help? I feel like I'm doing everything." He huffed and turned back around, making sure he had everything. Draco and Harry looked at each other from what the child said to them and they both broke out in laughter.

Harry and Draco moved over to where Teddy was standing and looked over all the objects on the counter. Draco looked over at Harry and watched him as he pulled his sleeves up to his elbows. As Harry did this, Draco noticed something on Harry's arms. He took a closer look and noticed that Harry had _muggle tattoos_ that covered his forearms completely. He stared at the man's arms as he followed them as they moved up to his hair. Harry had pulled out his wand from the bun that kept it in place and Draco was mesmerized as it cascaded down to his shoulders.

Draco stared at Harry and noticed how he obviously still didn't take care of his hair, just like when they were kids. His hair was unruly, full of curls, and still almost stark black, but there had appeared to be some grey slipping through the piercing darkness of the mess. His train of thought was broken when Harry had pulled an elastic band from his wrist and pulled the mess hanging on his shoulders back into another bun.

Harry looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "Draco?"

Draco shook his head and brought his thoughts back into focus. "Yeah, just wandered off again is all." He tried to give Harry another small smile and turned to Teddy. "Alright Teddy, what do you need me to do?" Teddy smiled as he turned to Draco and handed him a large bowl with many utensils and ingredients inside it. Draco looked down at it curiously and then back up to Teddy.

Teddy huffed again and shook his head. "Uncle Draco, do I have to do _everything_ for you?"

"Ted." Harry said sternly. Draco looked over at the man next to him and noticed that Harry's face didn't match his tone. His face was soft with care, unlike the parental tone in his voice. "Maybe Draco hasn't ever baked by hand before?"

Teddy's eyes went wide with realization. "I'm sorry Uncle Draco! Here, let me." Teddy hopped off his step and stood next to Draco. "You have to measure out all of the dry ingredients and mix them together. Here's what you need to measure out." A piece of parchment appeared in front of the two of them. "Just follow this and Daddy and I will mix the wet ingredients."

Draco looked over the parchment and it seemed simple enough, slightly like potions, which was something he knew he could do. He had a little more confidence now and continued reading the parchment.

"Hey Teddy?" Harry said, watching Draco look over the recipe. "What kind of care are we making bud?"

"Chocolate, of course Daddy." Teddy beamed and looked over at Draco, whose face erupted in a large smile. "You like chocolate cake Uncle Draco?"

"Teddy, it's the only cake worth eating."

They all started on their respective parts of the cake, Draco measuring and mixing the dry ingredients while Harry and Teddy worked on the wet. Things were going smoothly until Draco went to measure out the flour, which he hadn't known would come out of the bag that it was in so forcefully. The first clump of flour came out quickly and puffed back up into his face instantly. He coughed, as he tried to get the bit that had gotten into his throat, out. Harry and Teddy had turned to see what had happened and were presented with a white faced, flour covered Draco. His faced turned sour as they both erupted into a loud laughter. He was ready to storm out when Teddy had piped up.

"Uncle Draco, you look so silly." His little laugh got louder as he spoke, gasping for air.

The corners of Draco's mouth lifted as he watched the boy laugh, wiping tears from his bright violet eyes.

"Do I look silly Teddy?" Draco was smiling brightly now. Teddy could only nod at this point, for words were unable to form through his fit of laughter. "Well if that's the case, then I surely can't be the only one to look silly." His grin stretched as he saw Teddy's eyes widen slowly as the words processed through his mind. Teddy went to speak and raise his hands to his face but was a second too late. Draco had taken a handful of flour and tossed it at the boy, who now mirrored him with the mess. Teddy just stared at Draco, surprise crossing his face, and then a smile. The kitchen was silent as the two looked at the mess that had been created. The silence was finally broken when Harry broke out in laughter again.

Draco and Teddy both looked at Harry, who was now doubled over, clutching his stomach, laughing so had his breath kept catching. Teddy turned back and looked up at Draco. Draco raised an eyebrow at the boy and looked up at Harry and then back down. Teddy, who seemed to catch on to Draco's thoughts, smiled mischievously and nodded subtly so Harry couldn't catch on. They both grabbed a handful of flour and looked directly at Harry. He saw them staring at him and straightened up.

"Teddy? Draco? What are you -?" His eyes caught the sight of their hands, both covered in flour, and his smiling face suddenly turned to shock. "NO! Teddy, whatever he's convinced you to do, do NOT do it!" Harry started backing away slowly, but ended up against the wall with nowhere to run. Teddy turned to look at Draco, who replied with a smile that Teddy reciprocated. He turned back to Harry and grinned wide. The next thing Harry knew, he was covered in flour from head to toe, and Draco and Teddy were high fiving, laughing wildly.

"That was awesome Uncle Draco!" Teddy laughed, then hugged Draco tightly around the waist.

Draco looked down at the violet eyes looking back at him and smiled brightly. He looked up at Harry who was watching them with the same look of pride in his eyes that he had when he was watching Teddy get the cake ingredients together. His bright emerald green eyes met Draco's stone grey one's and that's when it hit Draco. That warm feeling in his chest that he had experienced when he was holding Teddy's stuffed wolf, was happening again. Draco couldn't understand why he felt it, but it made him slightly uneasy, so he tore his eyes away from Harry's and looked back down at Teddy, who was still holding on to him.

The kitchen was quiet again and somewhat peaceful when Draco suddenly felt something crack against his head and then followed by a cold, wet sensation running down his neck. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw an egg land on top of Teddy's head soon after. They both looked up and noticed Harry had the carton of eggs in his hands, a playful smile formed across his face. Draco looked at Teddy and the boy simply nodded. They grabbed the nearest ingredient and automatically threw it at Harry, who was now covered in the cocoa that they must have grabbed. The three of them stood in the kitchen looking at each other, not saying a word. Suddenly, Teddy yelled what seemed like a war cry and the kitchen erupted into a battlefield of cake ingredients. Food was being thrown from multiple directions and covering all three of them and most of the kitchen.

When they finally ran out of their ammunitions, the three of them were on the floor, out of breath, and laughing intensely. Draco looked around at the now food covered kitchen and leaned back against one of the cupboards. He looked over at Harry, who was wiping off his glasses, and smiled so big his cheeks hurt.

_Out of all the things that could get me to smile again,_ He thought,_ Harry fucking Potter was not on the top of that list._

He looked over at Teddy, who was making what he called 'flour angels'. He laughed and shook his head and looked down at his clothes. He, like the other two, was covered head to toe in food, and he was surprised to realize that he didn't mind. He looked back up at Harry and noticed that the man was looking at him as well. He felt that same feeling in his chest again and instantly looked away, feeling a flush in his cheeks.

"Hey Ted?" Harry said as he pulled himself up off the floor. "How about we get you cleaned up and ready for bed?"

Teddy groaned on the floor and grudgingly got up. He looked over at Draco and gave him sad eyes again, obviously looking for a way out.

"Sorry Teddy, I'm just the Uncle. Your dad wins this one." Draco laughed and looked up to receive a mouthed _thank you_ from Harry. He simply nodded and pulled himself up off the floor finally.

Teddy sighed and walked slowly towards Harry, dragging his feet along the way. When he reached him, he turned and looked back at Draco again. "Will you still be here when I'm done?" The look in the small child's eyes was hopeful and pleading.

Draco stammered for a moment, unsure of what to say, when Harry spoke up. "He'll be here Ted. Just head on to my bathroom and I'll meet you in there." An excited squeal came from Teddy before he hurried off down the hall. Harry turned to look at Draco, and his face was a light shade of pink from what Draco could see from underneath the mess of flour and egg that covered most of him. "I apologize if I overstepped with that. I just know he's had so much fun today and I couldn't take that from him." He shrugged, leaning against the kitchen wall.

Draco sighed, understanding Harry's point. "I get it. It's not easy saying no to a face like that." He smiled at the man across the room. "But I might need to run home, I am a bit of a mess." He gestured to the food covering himself.

"Oh, yeah. Well if you want, I have some clothes that might fit you." Harry ran his hand through what he could of the mess of his hair. "And you can use the guest shower. I don't mind." The pink on his face was brighter now.

"Erm, well I guess if you don't mind." Draco twisted his fingers together. "But are you sure your clothes will fit? You're like, twice my size now." Draco questioned, looking over Harry's frame, noticing the obvious size difference from the boy he remembered in school.

"Yeah, they're from when I was smaller." He was running his hand through is hair again.

"Alright."

"Yeah?" Harry looked at Draco with what looked like surprise in his eyes.

Draco nodded and Harry smiled. He saw Harry's hand flex beside him and suddenly a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt appeared on the table in the sitting room next to them. Draco's eyes widened at Harry's use of wandless magic and Harry just shrugged.

"Guest bathroom is at the top of the stairs, second door on the right."

Draco nodded once more, walked over and grabbed the clothes off the table and headed towards the stairs. He stopped and turned to look at Harry, who was still in the kitchen. "Harry?" The man looked up at him. "Thank you… for, well, I had fun today. But also, for letting me…" His words trailed off as Harry walked over to him. Harry placed his hand on Draco's shoulder and smiled.

"Anytime Draco." He squeezed Draco's shoulder gently and headed down the hall where they could both hear Teddy calling for him.


End file.
